The Greenbelt Development HQ brings together the public, consultants, developers, and contractual bodies to facilitate green belt development. Reusing buildings, materials, and programmes, it challenges traditional notions of ‘new build’ construction whilst fundamentally questioning the concept of a homogenous green belt.

A product of the garden city ideology, the Metropolitan Green Belt was established as a solution to squalid urban living conditions caused by the Industrial Revolution and enclosure laws, which led to significant urban migration. Current policy strongly opposes development within the greenbelt, aiming to preserve the countryside’s open and rural character. Concerns over future overdevelopment and romanticised notions of the English countryside evoke strong reactions from residents, contributing to the emergence of ‘nimbyism’.

The construction industry significantly contributes to the climate crisis; the embodied carbon of existing buildings should warrant demolition as a last resort. In this context, The Greenbelt Development HQ puts forth an alternative approach of reuse for the soon-to-be-demolished Hertfordshire Constabulary buildings.