HS2 will pass through an incredibly diverse landscape in terms of character, quality and usage, including urban, semi-urban, rural and historic areas.

HS2 therefore poses challenge but also great opportunities for designers: to create a connected space that is driven by local context and brings community and economic benefits, delivers landscape beauty wherever possible, meets rigorous environmental standards, is built to last and adapt to change, and is a source of national pride by adding to our cultural and natural heritage, 

To achieve all this, HS2’s Landscape and Design teams have worked extensively with an independent panel of world-renowned designers, landscape and sustainability/ecology specialists to develop a blueprint for how landscape design must be approached by the wide range of contractors who are designing and building the various components of the network - from track and stations to bridges tunnels and cuttings. 

Rather than a ‘consistent landscape design’, HS2 is aiming for a ‘coherent design approach’ that is applied route-wide. This means designs will respond to local contexts, landscape quality and character, whilst focusing on the design principles of conservation, enhancement, restoration and transformation.  

In order to achieve the benefits that we are aiming for and to create the high-quality green spaces, water bodies and other environmental features, we require an integrated design that allow our places to be characterful, beautiful, healthy as well as highly functional. 

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