The ‘Green Heart’ which is part of the wider Broadmarsh public realm initiative in Nottingham got some well-deserved national recognition last month at the 2025 Architects’ Journal (AJ) Architect Awards. The popular city center public space which opened in September last year won the Landscape and Public Realm Project category.
The award submission was put in by Townshend Landscape Architects who worked with Nottingham City Council on the original design to a Stage 3 level of design, although several elements of design were specifically left for future design development.
Ares Landscape Architects then completed the design on behalf of Contractor Willmott Dixon. Associate Director Kate Shearer said “It was important that the detailed design proposals were faithful to the concepts established by Townshend Landscape Architects.
We worked collaboratively to support the contractor with their construction activities. Much of the design was bespoke and great attention to detail and care had to be taken executing the works to ensure the imagination of the concept became a reality on site..
The scheme ‘breathes Nottingham’, observed the jury, who admired the remarkably transformative effect of the landscape, which re-energises the city centre with a beautiful and biodiverse public space.
