About West Reservoir Centre

West Reservoir is a working reservoir in the heart of Stoke Newington, managed by Better Leisure on behalf of the London Borough of Hackney. The reservoir operates as a leisure facility for swimming and boating, while the surrounding landscape forms part of a significant programme of public realm and ecological enhancement. Working in close partnership with Hackney Council, leisure operator GLL and contractor Blakedown Landscapes, LUC has helped deliver a long-held ambition to open up West Reservoir’s green spaces to the public while strengthening its ecological value and retaining its distinctive character as a working leisure water body. Located within the Woodberry Down neighbourhood and connected to the wider New River corridor, the project creates a new publicly accessible waterside landscape serving local residents, open water swimmers and visitors arriving along the New River Path.

Design Highlights

The design improves public access to the reservoir while maintaining dedicated areas for wildlife. Two new pedestrian bridges improve connections along the New River Path and into West Reservoir, opening up previously inaccessible areas of the northern and eastern banks. The publicly accessible reservoir edge now extends to approximately 480 metres, while a reservoir-edge wildlife corridor has been retained to support biodiversity.

Visitors can enjoy expansive views across the water and towards the London skyline while following a landscape designed to respond to the reservoir’s natural character. The project includes new walking routes, enhanced planting, improved access, a new café space, and upgraded facilities for open water swimming.

Landscape enhancements include new reed bed habitats, wildflower meadow areas, additional tree and hedge planting, native hedgerows, and green corridors linking the reservoir with the wider New River landscape. These improvements have helped the scheme achieve a biodiversity net gain of approximately 13%.

What Visitors Will Learn

Visitors will have the opportunity to learn how improved public access, biodiversity enhancement and recreation can be successfully integrated within a working reservoir landscape.
The project demonstrates how ecology and public access can be treated as mutually reinforcing priorities through landscape-led design. Visitors will be able to explore new walking routes, habitat creation measures and waterside spaces, while learning about the role of the reservoir within the wider Woodberry Down and New River landscape.

The scheme also illustrates how safety, ecology and high-quality public realm can be delivered together while opening previously inaccessible green space to the wider community