Balls Park receives prestigious BALI accolade
Explore Living’s Balls Park development in Hertford has been awarded a prestigious British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) Award for the Fountain Courtyard at the heart of the development.
Organised in association with Horticulture Week, The BALI National Landscape Awards were founded in 1976 and are the premier awards for the landscaping industry. As a result of receiving the accolade, Balls Park was also shortlisted to become the Principal Winner in the Best Hard Landscaping under £300,000 category of this year’s awards.
Designed by landscape architects LiZLaKe and delivered by Oak View Landscapes, the elegant Fountain Courtyard has been designed to provide residents with a communal green area to meet their neighbours as well as create an attractive design feature that can be appreciated from the surrounding apartments.
The centrepiece of the courtyard is the fountains, which have been detailed in granite with a multi-tiered fountain in the upper bowl and with four bronze lion heads spouting water down into the lower pool. The lily pad themed pond cover has been finished in a verdigris colour, which in time will complement the patina of the lions head water spouts, and the copper lanterns which are suspended from the entrance archways. The fountain is surrounded by a paved seating area as well as four separate granite benches.
A simple complementary palette of hard landscape materials has been chosen to enhance the red-brick Jacobean-style of the apartments and sympathetically blends together with the historic setting in order to create a calm, harmonious and accessible communal space.
The simplicity of the hard landscape palette also provides a foil for the planting. The principle behind the planting design was to create an ornate framework of low box hedges and topiary interplanted with bulbs and evergreen herbaceous plants to provide a succession of interest throughout the year.
In terms of planting, the small mop headed trees and railings around the perimeter provide an attractive outlook from the apartments, whilst creating a perceived sense of enclosure and privacy for the seating area. The inclusion of four Magnolia grandiflora standard trees within the courtyard echo the mature wall specimens adjacent to the main Manor building elsewhere on the site.
The lighting used within the Fountain Courtyard was designed to provide an entirely different feeling at night time whilst extending the hours that it can be enjoyed.
John Inglis, Sales and Marketing Director at Explore Living comments: “The BALI Award is a real endorsement for the time and attention which has been put into creating something very special with the Fountain Courtyard at Balls Park. Communal outdoor space is very important as it creates attractive views for the surrounding properties as well as providing residents with a place to meet and relax. The feedback we have had from residents has been very positive and the Fountain Courtyard is set to be the focal point for the scheme for years to come.”
Paul Downer, Managing Director of Oak View Landscapes comments: “We are delighted to win a BALI award for the Fountain Courtyard at Balls Park. The award is testament to both Explore Living and LiZLaKe Associates for their vision, design excellence and financial commitment to such a high quality and detailed scheme. The result is a real team effort and we are proud of both the award and our involvement in the project.”
Conveniently located on the outskirts of Hertford town centre, Explore Living’s Balls Park development is a scheme of 131 high specification new homes including one and two bedroom apartments and three bedroom houses all set within 63 acres of beautiful parkland. The magnificent grounds feature a historic grand mansion house, one of the most important surviving mid-17th century houses in Hertfordshire, which is also being restored and refurbished.
Balls Park is divided into three collections of homes: the Harrison Collection comprising three and four-bedroom houses; the Townsend Collection featuring three-bedroom houses; and the Henmarsh Collection featuring a range of one and two bedroom apartments, which have the Fountain Courtyard as the central feature. The houses and apartments have been carefully designed to sympathetically blend together with the Jacobean façades of the existing mansion house whilst featuring an exceptionally high level of interior specification and technological innovation.
Each of the apartments features underfloor heating, pre-wiring for Sky+, HDTV and for flat screen TV’s, concrete floors which offer superb sound-proofing, oak finished doors, built-in wardrobes to the master bedroom plus chrome switches and sockets. Kitchens boast granite worktops, concealed pull-up sockets and integrated appliances including oven, hob, microwave, dishwasher and fridge/ freezer. A free standing washer/dryer is discreetly hidden away in the hallway cupboard.
Balls Park is situated immediately to the east of Hertford town centre, just to the south of the A414 London road. The A10 trunk road is a short distance further to the east and this provides easy access to the M25. Hertford East railway station is approximately one mile from the development and offers regular services to London Liverpool Street in less than an hour, whilst Hertford North station provides services to both King’s Cross and Moorgate stations.
Prices for the apartments within The Henmarsh Collection start from £224,995 for a one bedroom apartment and £339,995 for a two bed . Houses are also available on the development with a show house available to view. For more information on Balls Park contact the Marketing Suite or visit: exploreliving.co.uk
