At the heart of the proposals, the new Finchley Leisure Centre and Lido will provide an enhanced sports and wellbeing hub featuring multiple swimming pools, a sauna, steam room, gym, multi-purpose studios, and an outdoor lido. The centre will also include an indoor children’s play area, event space, and café, creating an inclusive and active destination for both residents and visitors.

Nestled in one of the greenest boroughs of London, the currently grey and car-dominated site will be transformed into a patchwork of open spaces, linking to the adjacent the neighbouring Glebelands open space. Two hectares of new public open space alongside 325 new trees will foster an ecologically rich environment. Residential gardens and green streets will offer a generous network of spaces connecting the Finchley High Road to Glebelands, establishing new east-west routes for people and wildlife.

2 hectares of open space and 325 new trees, creating a 157% biodiversity net gain

The masterplan is structured around four character areas, each crafted to complement their context and surroundings, together creating a layered architecture that blends building types, heights and styles to form a rich and varied neighbourhood. To understand the site’s cultural context, our design team explored and analysed many of its neighbours, including North Finchley, Muswell Hill, Whetstone, Finchley Central, Friern Barnet and East Finchley, drawing on their chamfered corners, arched openings and richly detailed shopfronts as the starting point for a new architectural vocabulary.

A considered material palette of brick ranging from deep reds and browns along the High Road to buff and bronze tones at the Glebelands edge, unites the neighbourhood while allowing each street to develop its own identity, from the colourful glazed brick and bronze-clad civic buildings of Great North Avenue to the granular, human-scale mews and gardens threaded with ginnels and archways.

Bright colours, textured brickwork and colonnades add further character and charm to the streetscape, particularly along the main commercial street, where colourful, tactile frontages are set against muted brick tones above. Chamfers, recesses and colonnades invite people in, with ground floors strategically carved away on key corners to add articulation to this active frontage.

A bespoke project website generating 5,700 views

From the outset, the proposals for GNLP have been shaped by extensive consultation and engagement. Over three stages of consultation, over 22,000 newsletters were distributed locally, and a dedicated project website launched attracting over 5,700 views. Numerous public events were attended by more than 400 people, along with input from local stakeholders – including London Borough of Barnet planning officers, neighbourhood associations, and local residents – directly influencing the plans.

Sustainability is woven into the design. Embracing environmental, economic, and social objectives, GNLP reflects a 61% reduction in CO2 emissions beyond Building Regulations for the residential component, and achieves a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions against Building Regulations for the non-residential elements. with the majority of the site remaining car-free creating an Air Quality Positive new place.