About
DESIGN
We know we are lucky to work in a creative industry. Our studio is right by Borough Market and we see the social interaction engendered by that environment. It is an historic urban landscape, renewed and invigorated, which draws people to the company of others in vibrant surroundings. It is one influence that reminds us every day of the power of design to inspire, to make lives more enjoyable and fulfilled. In the studio we are ambitious to explore new ideas through drawings and other media and in our weekly programme of design reviews in which everyone participates. Design is central to everything we do.
COLLABORATION
We relish working with others. We know that this enriches our work, and we are always open to ideas. We have been fortunate to collaborate with many of the very best architects; we make a point to study their work and understand their philosophy so that we can contribute meaningfully to their schemes. We learn a huge amount from specialists, artists and makers and we invite them to collaborate with us whenever we can. The most essential collaboration is with our clients as we share a journey. Our way of working together is via an open conversation where all ideas are welcome, to be celebrated and distilled into a coherent composition. We place the greatest value on our many collaborations.
KNOWLEDGE
Ours is a dynamic discipline. Landscapes do not stay still, they constantly evolve. They have to cope with change and must weather attractively over time. They need to deal with the elements and be robust but friendly. Changes in regulations can be seen as a restriction, but they can also be an opportunity for new, inventive, design solutions. Above all we make it our task to keep up to date with developing technologies and use them creatively in our projects. Our in-house weekly programme of Continuing Professional Development sessions, many with specialists, are creative and enjoyable and allow us to develop our knowledge base together as a team.
NATURE AND SUSTAINABILITY
We were instrumental in the new wave of European planting in the 1990s. Unusually for public spaces we evoked the spirit of wildflowers by combining perennials that were long-lived, equally competitive, with a good structure and a long season and relatively small flowers in comparison with many garden plants. We were inspired by nature and intuitively wanted to bring it into urban settings in the UK as we knew the restorative impact of planting.
One of our influences was the pioneering research into perennials in their natural habitats by Professor Richard Hansen in the trial gardens at the University of Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany. Our schemes, which we are continually developing, are relatively easy to maintain, have a good structure which let them stand without staking and move with the breeze. We develop our planting through trials and by working closely with top nurseries. We are involved in many urban greening schemes and many projects with exemplary sustainability where often the greening is the most prominent outward expression of the building’s sustainability ambitions. In our education projects we take the opportunity to make students curious about planting and nature and be inspired for the rest of their lives.
DETAIL AND LOCAL
How do we perceive landscape? Unlike architecture, which we are used to viewing in elevation, we tend to view landscape first obliquely, looking across the composition. Landscapes tend to reveal themselves bit by bit as we piece them together in our minds. It is one of the reasons why they resonate so strongly and emotionally, and why details play such an important part in our understanding. We take great pleasure in the details as they provide an opportunity to make the landscape unique and root it to its place. Here is a chance to re-think the familiar, to express textures, thresholds and a rich palette of materials. We can only achieve the quality we want by working hand in hand with craftspeople and sharing thoughts. We want our landscapes to be full of ideas, crafted with care, and linked to their context.