The transformation of neglected Eleftherias Square in the Cypriot capital Nicosia began in 2013 with a design competition and is only now being officially opened in 2021.

The winning project is by Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-born British architect who died in 2016. Ms Hadid envisioned the lush turf, elegant modern design and cultural and sporting facilities as being the catalyst to “uniting the last divided capital of Europe”. It’s a grand vision and one that Village Green was chosen to assist in bringing it to fruition.

The aim was to create an intervention that would be in harmony with the broader urbanisation plan aimed at making the Venetian walls, the moat and the boundaries of the two parts of the city into a single urban project. To this end, in Hadid’s project the moat becomes a sort of Green Belt, like a “necklace” around the Venetian walls, also capable of improving the quality of life through a series of leisure facilities, spaces for installations, art events and sports activities.

Covering 35,300 square metres amidst massive Venetian fortifications and even a moat, the central city square now also comprises more than 5,000 square metres of Village Green turf.

Quality of the Green Village Grass

Eleftherias Square has benefited greatly from Village Green’s density, which helps resist wear and presents a tight cover that smothers weeds under a low maintenance regimen.

This variety is particularly suitable for parks and sports fields in southern Europe, as Costas Michael, director of Turfland, the company that grows Village Green in Cyprus, points out.

The nature of the Eleftherias Square design is that the turfed segments come in a range of sizes and shapes, some receiving heavy foot traffic and others in partly shaded or full sun locations.

Village Green is the premium turf variety for handling heavy traffic, retaining a thick and well-padded feeling underfoot, deep green colour in winter and summer, and coping ably with dappled light under trees.

Its elegance and high resistance to treading were the main requirements for Village Green to be chosen for this ambitious project, which involved the best international technicians and suppliers.

(News by Village Green – Future Turf).