Based on the West Bank of the Greenwich Peninsula, Enderby’s Wharf is an industrial site on the south bank of the Thames, London. In the 1860’s the wharf became commercially developed by a whaling company and later acquired for ropeworks. In 1935 the site was used by newly formed company- Submarine Cables Ltd. Some of the cross-channel, D-Day Pluto pipeline was made at the wharf in World War 2. The production of submarine cables ceased at the site in 1975 (relocating to Southampton), and work concentrated on manufacturing amplifiers as well being bought by a large telecommunications company. As telecom companies succeeded and grew, their offices and factories expanded.

In 2010 a proposal was made to turn 3 acres (12,000 m2) of the river frontage into a terminal for cruise liners and large ships. The proposal received planning approval from Greenwich Council in 2011, subject to approval by the Greater London Authority (GLA). Mayor Boris Johnson gave his approval to a revised application but later this proposal was rejected, due to residents of the area stating it should be a “zero emissions” site. It was advised that ships should be able to use onshore electrical power without the need to run their engines while docked.

The Developing company Cathedral Group, thereafter submitted plans to redevelop the manufacturing site by modernising the existing factory building new high-quality housing. The aspirations of this development were to provide a comprehensive landscape and public realm strategy, a new publicly accessible linear park as well as a resident car parking podium with green infrastructure in place.

GreenBlue Urban are proud to have worked on this scheme by assisting with the 29 trees that were planted into hard landscape within the car park region. A huge importance for these trees to thrive was a key responsibility of the developers, due to the historic significance of the site. One continuous underground tree pit was built to allow the StrataCell soil cells flow in a diagonal format in relation to the line of trees that bordered the site and sectioned the car park.

The base of the tree pits has a porous membrane, 100 – 150 mm of washed granite, and StrataCells to maintain a vast amount of uncompacted soil. In order to allow stability, the trees have Deadman Anchors installed, and ArborVent aeration systems to keep the tree pits healthy and rich of nutrients.

Greenwich’s contribution to the electronics revolution is historic and can be appreciated at the Greenwich Heritage Centre and admired as this beautiful site where the trees will flourish for all to enjoy for years to come. Greenwich is at the heart of mobile telecoms and still known and talked about to this day as; ‘The Home of Time’.