Full landscape design services

Matrix Partnership have been appointed as site planners and landscape architects for a new Hilton Hotel at Freetown, the capital city, on the Atlantic coastline of Sierra Leone.

The hotel site is an outstanding location from a landscape point of view, and the prime aim of the landscape design approach was to exploit, respect and enhance the natural features in order to realise the full potential of the site and to maximise the quality and enjoyment of the location. However the site also has to fulfil important functional roles, and an important aspect of the site planning is the need to respond to security issues.  Matrix Partnership gave considerable thought to the planning of the site to accommodate several areas of different security value, and much of the challenge of the design has been to create an open and welcoming environment without compromising security requirements.

The main entrance road is orientated directly onto an existing water tower that is a focal point within the site and around the locality, and this defines an important axis and geometry that orders the layout of much of the northern part of the site. In landscape design terms, the layout in the main entrance area is luxurious and informal in character, including a plantation of palm trees that is evocative of the tropical coastline location, contrasting with and complimenting the formal, geometric character of the building itself.

A series of terraces on the southern side of the hotel forms the main public area of usable external space.  Here an infinity pool, two restaurants and a bar are located, where the guests can relax, enjoy sea breezes and the outstanding views.

Below the terraces there is an area of semi-naturalistic grassland, where informal paths meander down through trees and rocky outcrops to a jetty and the famous Lumley Beach.