Property giants to create central London ecology project

London property owners, The Crown Estate, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, Shaftesbury, the Howard de Walden Estate and The Portland Estate, have formed a collaboration to promote green infrastructure in London, through an ecology initiative entitled “Wild West End”.

The first phase of the project will see The Crown Estate create a green corridor across its holdings in Regent Street and St James’s (a total of 8m sq ft of commercial real estate), linking the two areas. The scheme will integrate gardens at street level and on rooftops, as well as the installation of bird and bat boxes, beehives and green walls.

The initiative as a whole will ultimately see the creation of over a hectare of new green space, creating an extensive network of green stepping stones to form connections between the large areas of parkland which are already key natural features of the overall environment in the West End.

It is anticipated that Wild West End could have a positive impact on air quality. In Chicago, introducing green roofs across 10% of the buildings in the city removed 17,400 mg of nitrogen dioxide each year.

The plan is being supported by the Mayor of London, and the London Wildlife Trust, both of which have agreed to provide advice, promote the objectives of Wild West End and collaborate with the partners on their individual green infrastructure plans going forward. Engineering consultancy Arup are providing technical advice and support to all the partners.