Glanville was originally appointed by MEPC, one of the largest property companies in the UK, to advise on transport and highways aspects of the redevelopment of this 100-acre site on the edge of Watford. Leavesden Park is becoming an internationally renowned development, which couples the needs of new media and film production industries in a parkland setting. Phase 1 comprised 360,000 sq ft of office floor space. Glanville was responsible for the detailed design of the external works.
Glanville played a key role in the masterplanning of the second phase, and in the preparation of documents to support a planning application for 1.3 million sq ft of office floor space. The application also included amenity facilities and new film production studios to replace Leavesden Studios – home to the Harry Potter Films.
The Transport Assessment prepared by Glanville, following extensive negotiations with the Highways Agency and Hertfordshire County Council, assessed the ability of the highway network to accept the estimated future traffic. It also considered public transport, travel to work management, pedestrian and cyclist facilities, and overall road safety issues. This project entailed the design of more than £13 million of off-site highway works, including improvements to four major trunk road / motorway junctions, new access arrangements directly from the trunk road as well as various upgrading and traffic calming works on the local network. Glanville was also responsible for the strategy for on-site infrastructure, roads, drainage and utility supplies.
