Created in collaboration with The Crown Estate, Fosse Park stands on the site of the old Everards Brewery in Leicester, and we’ve kept true to those roots in the details of our design – from the beer barrel insect habitats lining the lush green walls, to the bronze play pipes along the lanes.
A love of the local landscape shines through too, with wildflower meadows and swathes of planting expanding the habitats of wildlife from the neighbouring Soar Valley and Aylestone Meadows.
But it’s people we’ve put at the heart of this project; the people who meet here, shop here, dine here together. For them we made space, laid wide flowing walkways. For them we dug deeper to build more joy into the everyday, collaborating with creatives such as sculptor Alan Dunn, artists Smith & Lewarne and the brilliant team at Pickle Illustration, as well as local artists and community groups, to create a fleet of 25 individually- painted foxes as part of a colourful sculpture trail. www.fossepark.co.uk/foxes
The public realm designs have been a real breath of fresh air. Carefully crafted and considered, the new spaces are filled with shoppers mingling amongst the planting, children playing along the streets and wildlife buzzing through the green walls and wildflower meadows.
The Crown Estate
The designs of the Fosse Foxes tell the tales of Leicester’s landmarks, culture and people, making Fosse Park a space that could only belong to this historic and multicultural city. Echoes of the site’s past can also be found in the bespoke patinated bronze brewing “mash tun” seat – a nod to the old brewery – while the “hop and jump” water feature tunnel encourages play and interaction with the natural environment.
Macgregor Smith’s passion for what they do shines through. Full of creativity and ideas, they pushed the boundaries of what retail ‘should’ look like and helped the team to create an innovative series of spaces, full of life and joy.
The Crown Estate
Sustainability and habitat preservation is one of our first priorities for every project. In the creation of Fosse Park, we carefully considered the site’s relationship with its natural environment, taking into account the meadowlands and valleys surrounding it, and devising ways of expanding the habitats of the wildlife already living there. We also sourced all the sandstone and granite used in the development from around the UK and Europe, in order to reduce the carbon footprint – making Fosse Park another excellent example of the care, consideration and creativity we put into every one of our designs.
