From sustainable strategies and vast green spaces, these are seven projects set to transform London over the next few years.

With recent planning applications being submitted, and others getting the green light, 2026 is expected to see plenty of landscape strategies begin to come into fruition. From the busy streets of Oxford Street to the residential avenues of St James’s Square, each project brings a splash of green over the big smoke.

Wembley Sites project

Macfarlane Associates plans for Wembley Sites project have been granted, reimaging its potential as a sustainable gateway.

Working for Beyond Collaboration alongside UMC Architects, the development will deliver four flexible B2/B8 industrial buildings to support a wide range of industrial activities. 

Featuring a revised public realm and external landscape vision, the plans intend to integrate “nature at every step,” says Macfarlane Associates. 

Featuring vertical greening and a tree-lined avenue to soften the urban edge, the Wembley urban greening strategy connects directly to the River Brent’s ecological corridor.

Intended to boost biodiversity and environmental resilience, the green interventions will not only enhance the site’s character but also create a welcoming, people-focussed arrival experience. 

1 St James’s Square

Intending to retain over 50% of the office building’s structure, Foster + Partners plan to completely redesign its façade, and provide two new levels with green outdoor spaces that bring a myriad of benefits.

Plans also include an aim to exceed GLA targets for embodied and operational energy and meet the highest sustainability targets, including BREEAM Outstanding, NABERS 5.5* and WELL Platinum.

Alongside a green roof and landscaped terraces to enhance biodiversity, there will be photovoltaic panels to deliver on-site energy generation and solar control with St James’s Square.

London Fire Brigade HQ

re-form Landscape Architecture has submitted a planning application for the refurbishment of the London Fire Brigade’s original Albert Embankment headquarters in Lambeth.

Working in collaboration with 5plus architects, re-form’s landscape proposals include a legible and green public interface along Albert Embankment, a new entrance plaza which improves accessabiliy and the creation of a calm civic space with seating and planting along the Thames.

In addition to ground level public spaces, the plans also include a series of external terraces to support staff wellbeing amongst outdoor spaces for rest, social interaction and informal working.

Incorporating the building’s historic DNA, the planting and material choices draw on a palette of natural stone, climate-resilient planting and long-term sustainability.

Oxford Street

Developed by Berkeley Estate Asset Management, the landscape architecture plans for 33 Cavendish Square, an island off Oxford Street, are being headed up by Spacehub with architects KPF.

Featuring over 3000m2 of biodiverse roof and roof terraces across a new office building, the designs maximise planting and biodiversity with the design of each terrace. 

The design adopts a retrofit-first approach, retaining half of the existing building structure, whilst adding new elements to provide approximately 75,000m2 of grade A office space and improved flagship retail units on Oxford Street.

Works are expected to commence in 2028, with completion of development anticipated in 2033. 

Sea Lanes Canary Wharf

After proposal plans were floated for a natural water lido to open at Eden Dock in Canary Wharf, Sea Lanes planning permission has now been approved.

Joe McNulty, director at Sea Lanes says the open water swimming centre will “offer Londoners a chance to swim in natural water.”

Approved plans feature a 50m six-lane floating swimming pool within dock water, two saunas powered by 100% renewable energy, community clubhouse and a wetsuit concierge service.

Set to be open 364 days a year for swimmers of all ages, the natural swimming pool will allow locals to connect with nature and the environment from the heart of London.

Construction is set to begin in early 2026, with an opening date in summer 2026.

Fox Court, Camden

The designs for Fox Court in Camden feature a layered series of green terraces and roof-level ecologies that reimagine a hard-edged 1970s office building into a biophilic workplace.

Grant Associates in collaboration with architects Buckley Gray Yeoman and developer General Projects have produced a vertical landscape strategy capable of delivering “meaningful environmental and social benefits within a tight urban footprint.”

A sequence of stepped terraces wraps around the building, each with a planting palette designed to deliver seasonal interest, texture and colour while supporting pollinators and urban wildlife.

Fox Court in Camden will act as a model for how existing office buildings can be transformed to meet contemporary environmental, social and regulatory expectations in dense city centres.

Princess of Wales Memorial Playground

Since its opening quarter of a century ago, the Princess of Wales Memorial Playground will undergo a major £3m regeneration, set to improve accessibility and inclusivity.

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground has been closed since 3 November to make way for the improvement works, and is set to reopen in the summer 2026.

The Royal Parks charity, which manages London’s eight Royal Parks – including Kensington Garden where the memorial park is located – recently welcomed its millionth visitor to the park at a celebratory event where it revealed the renewal plans to the public.

Plans for the park, announced back in May, include the installation of a new replacement Galleon (the large sailing ship), which will now boast ramped access to the main deck.

Soft landscaping will also be rejuvenated with a new sensory planting pallet established.