The Angel Building, a 260,000sqft office development by Derwent in Clerkenwell, in central London, was completed in 2010. In spite of a poor economic climate, two thirds of the building was let before completion, and full occupancy was reached very soon after opening. For Johanna Gibbons, landscape architect for the project, “there is no doubt that the environmental quality afforded through the successful retention of mature trees all around the building was a key differentiator for this infill development. A tree constraints plan was developed early and became a primary driver for the design. The curved building façade on St John Street was positioned and shaped in response to the location of the root protection area. The strategy was to retain groups of trees, primarily limes (Tillia spp.) and Caucasian wingnuts (Pterocarya fraxinifolia), at the corner of the project so as to create a microclimate facilitating building ventilation and energy conservation as well as the establishment of new tree and soft landscape around the scheme.

​Garibaldi Street is a major thoroughfare running through Lyon’s city centre.
 Designed as an “urban motorway” in the 1960s, the oversized road no longer serves contemporary needs for development and quality of space. Refurbishment was initiated in the 1990s, and is now entering into a second, more ambitious phase expected to turn the six-lane road into a people- friendly green street that will also serve economic regeneration. The 2.6km project drastically re-allocates space between highway users. ​Pedestrians, cyclists and buses now have the lion’s share. The scheme features extensive tree planting, designed to provide shade and manage surface water runoff from the footways and cycle paths. Structural “skeleton” growing medium is being used underneath footways and cycle paths to maximise the rooting volume.