Helping craft the nation’s focus for remembrance
The National Memorial Arboretum (NMA), home of the Armed Forces Memorial in Alrewas, Staffordshire has seen an impressive growth in visitor numbers since opening to the public in 2001. We were commissioned to prepare a masterplan to structure the development of the Arboretum on its existing 150 acres, and to plan for the future expansion. Working with the NMA team we created a masterplan for the existing and proposed arboretum with detailed areas and strategies for key elements including axes/focal points, circulation, vegetation, water, memorials, biodiversity and art. The design is supported by a schedule of materials to ensure continuity of design intent during the phased development.
Using woodland as a framework/backdrop for the tree collection and water as a setting, the masterplan will accommodate development and change as the arboretum grows.
Following Fira’s commission for the masterplan for the National Memorial Arboretum and the new gardens, we were asked to design the landscape for the new visitor centre. As the number of visitors is expected to increase to over 400,000 in the next few years so the facilities for the visitors will need to be improved to cope with this expansion.