Tubs Hill, Sevenoaks

Aluminium and Steel Edging make a practical residential space

Tubs Hill is an £8 million residential apartment block development with communal gardens in Sevenoaks.

Previously one of the tallest 1960s eight storey office blocks, when Tubs Hill was being converted into luxury one and two bedroom private apartments, Robert Myers Associates specified Kinley’s products as part of the design for the two unusual podium gardens. The split level courtyard gardens, neatly built on top of the car parks, were connected by a feature spiral staircase. The circular lawn areas were surrounded by hedging and required a specific planter design to accommodate the curved design.

Choosing the product

Urban edging (previously HiGrade) was used to accommodate the circular garden design. These incorporated curved edging and were designed to fit on an inverted roof build up construction. Made of CorTen steel, the bespoke planters can be formed to meet a range of design specifications, including size, height and shape. The two colour path was defined using AluExcel aluminium edging to separate the resin bound gravel.

Managing the installation

As well as the curved layout, the garden was to be created on top of a waterproofed roof. The planter edges were installed by Kingston Garden Services by bolting triangular support brackets into a 50mm layer of screed on top of the waterproofing.

With onsite support from Kinley’s team through a number of site visits, we could ensure the planters were installed as designed and as per the architectural vision.

Overcoming the Challenges

The particular challenges for this project included:

Bespoke design – The project called for a unique, peaceful outdoor space for residents to enjoy. The garden was designed to sit on a waterproofed area, and required robust but curved planter edges. Kinley worked with these design challenges and created a product that did the architectural specification justice.

Delivery and installation - Due to the change in height of the garden landscape along with the planters being installed on a waterproofed area, there were challenges in how the planters should be delivered and installed. Marking up the edging and delivering them in pre-formed sections ensured the installation team could easily fit them together. Kinley’s team made a number of site support visits, but the installers had no problem fixing the planters and no changes on site were required.

The end result

Tubs Hill is now a residential apartment building with a beautiful garden, created to the specified design and built to last. Residents have a peaceful and natural outdoor space to enjoy, which also allows the car park to blend into the landscape, as the developers and architect envisaged.

Project Partners

Client U & I Plc

Architect:
Open Architecture

Landscape Architect:
Robert Myers Associates

Main Contractor:
Buxton Building

Product Installer:
Kingston Garden Services

Why Kinley?

Our reputation for being able to create beautiful edges to fit a range of architectural designs and situations made us the ideal choice for this project. 

As well as the bespoke design, the way we delivered the edging meant that the installation was straightforward and the contractors did not need to make any changes on site – saving time and money.