our latest thoughts and wanderings
NEWS
Welcome to the Land Studio news page.
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2024
The Design Commission for Wales partnered with Land Studio for an event looking at the future of rural and urban communities in North Wales.
Claudia’s article about a Welsh quarry reclaimed by nature appears in the Environment Journal.
An article by Associate Landscape Architect Kate Richards about the importance of access to green spaces and the routes between them.
We’re working with Gwynedd Council to design the Public Realm for the Viaduct Gardens in Barmouth, in Wales.
A new study by the Land Trust has revealed challenges in the delivery of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).
Like anything new, it takes time for people to understand how it works, the benefits, and how they can implement it for themselves.
With the new legal requirement for increased biodiversity, and to encourage wildlife to our sites, have we as an industry really thought about how the traditional design of our built environment may not be set up to protect existing habitats or to encourage new?
With space at a premium in the UK, it’s time to look up and rethink how we design our roof tops. Land Studio’s Director of Civil Engineering Lisa Sawyer explores why we need to speed up and catch up with other European cities who have been making them part of the urban landscape for decades.
We’ve been looking at some of the changes in legislation coming up this year which we hope will have a positive impact for the environment and climate change – and benefit not just our children but future generations too. We have three key questions to ask.
Read about why we think the new Green Infrastructure policy is a positive step for the built environment.
2023
Find out why our thorough landscape design reports often accompany landscape proposals submitted as part of a planning application.
We’re working on the design and access for a proposed £11m development at an outdoor education and specialist college in Cheshire.
We have provided the landscape design for Wrexham University’s new Enterprise Engineering and Optics Centre on their Plas Coch campus and helped in the coordination of biodiversity assessments.
Here’s the changes made to the Planning Policy Wales and how they might affect your project
We’ve been reading Julia Bradbury’s new book about the importance to our health and wellbeing about connecting with nature.
How Land Studio’s Director of Ecology Val Gateley commutes to Chester from his home in West Lancashire and stays connected to nature during his drive in.
Good to work with the team at Savills on a holiday park project in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on Anglesey.
We’ve written a feature for the Environment Journal about how Land Studio is using nature-led design in the schools we work with in Wales.
Land Studio founder Simon Richards has written an article for the Design Commission for Wales on the importance of creating a wilder network of green spaces to help unlock the future of our towns and cities.
We’ve been asking school children in Cheshire and North Wales what they would like to see from a landscape perspective when it comes to creating new environments for them to learn in.
It was revealed earlier today that the Government is delaying putting the new Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) laws into force this November.
Check out our simple guide for everything you need to know about Biodiversity Net Gain and the changes in the law which are coming this November.
Land Studio’s new Ecology service will offer clients a wide range of ecological services including Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) assessments in support of their projects.
Land Studio’s Sian Rossiter spent a day on the River Dee learning about its salmon and sea trout and the fascinating ways in which they are measured and assessed by Natural Resources Wales.
Land Studio’s Kate Richards joined Sean Conway in the pool during his successful bid to smash a world record and complete full 105 triathlons in 105 consecutive days.
Ask us about a grant scheme which is available to support the development of small-scale, retro-fit, sustainable drainage solutions in Wales.
Whenever we work with schools, we run workshops to get young people involved in the design process so they learn more about nature and the environment.
A project win for Land Studio with a focus on Building with Nature and Sustainability at its heart.
At Land Studio, we have bags of experience working on sites around the country which are facing planning challenges.
Kate is in training to swim a gruelling 5.25 mile open water swim from the top to the bottom of Coniston Water in the Lake District this month.
Landscape architect Matt Northall has set off on his epic cycle ride around the perimeter of Wales.
Land Studio’s Director of Civil Engineering and Sustainable Drainage Systems Lisa Sawyer joined the team a year ago. Here she looks back over her first year and chats about the months ahead.
The organisation works with its members to protect, conserve and enhance the natural and built environment for the public benefit.
We can retrofit sustainable drainage system (SuDS) to help reduce flooding, remove discharge of surface water to the public sewer systems and reduce pollution to the environment.
New legislation is on its way this November which will have an impact on new development.
Land Studio is one of a number of landscape architecture practices in the UK who have committed to the movement.
Planning permission has been granted for one of our projects with the National Trust in the Lake District to improve the visitor experience at the popular Fell Foot Park, on the shores of Lake Windermere.
Land Studio were invited to give a talk at M-SParc in Anglesey, Wales’ first science park, on how the integration of SuDS and good landscape design can enhance biodiversity and help to create a sense of place.
Land Studio is working with a growing number of schools in Wales helping them with their water management and flooding issues.
Land Studio Landscape Architect Matt Northall will be tackling an epic 1,400km bikepacking trip around the perimeter of Wales in April.
As a studio, we have been discussing whether the hard engineering of the past has run its course.
Why we think the Environment Secretary’s pledge to create more green spaces and enhance bio-diversity is not enough.
By engaging with children about design, wildlife and climate change, we can inspire the next generation to become our future environmental ambassadors.
Our thoughts about King Charles’ new climate friendly garden plans for Sandringham and how creating wilder, natural parks is the future for biodiversity and climate change.
What can we do as creators of the built environment to tackle climate change? What can we do to help landowners, local authorities and statutory bodies address the awareness of climate change in today’s society and what should the landscapes of the future look like?
We have been in the news this week after welcoming DEFRA’s announcement of a SuDS requirement for future development.
All new developments in England will be required to make sustainable drainage systems a mandatory requirement by 2024, a new Government review has announced today - and which we, at Land Studio, welcome.
2022
The Land Studio team would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
Land Studio’s Rachael Fenton talks about what can be done to reverse biodiversity loss in the December issue of Pro Landscaper magazine.
Land Studio’s guide to National Tree Week and how the Woodland Trust in Wales is offering a free tree to Welsh homeowners.
The Land Studio team discuss the favourite landscapes and gardens that inspire them.
Land Studio’s Matt Northall reviews the book Bringing Back the Beaver
Taking a nature led approach to design and engineering allows us to deliver exceptional solutions that maximise the potential of land.
How collaboration can make a difference when it comes to climate change.
2021
Land Studio now offers a Building with Nature accreditation, the UK’s first green infrastructure benchmark.
Welcome to the new King and the start of a new era with nature at its heart.
What’s the link between landscaping and civil engineering? Lisa explains all on a podcast.
Planning permission for an extension to a caravan park in Shropshire with the help of our detailed visual appraisal.
We are working with caravan parks, holiday parks and leisure sites across the country to help them to enhance their settings.
Health and Wellbeing are two important factors that have a major influence on our landscape design work. Here our team share what they love to do to relax outside of the office.
Associate Landscape Architect Kate Richards reviews two inspiring landscaping books.
At Land Studio we believe that sustainable drainage systems, or SuDS, are the future of good landscape design.
Land Studio Director Lisa Sawyer has reviewed the book There is no Planet B by Mike Berners-Lee
Why we, as a team of landscape architects and civil engineers, believe that nature led design is so important.
Land Studio’s Assistant Landscape Architect Matthew Reece has reviewed the book Gotham Unbound by Ted Steinberg.
Our new service furthers our nature led design approach and offers our clients drainage design and water management systems in-house.
Why we believe that landscape architects as a profession need to be more vocal.
Land Studio Director Lisa Sawyer, who heads up our new civil engineering division, talks about what drives her.
We have been working with a London school to transform the entrance to their school.
Land Studio’s Kate Richards and Rachael Fenton are now Associate Landscape Architects.
Planning permission has been granted for a replacement dwelling in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wales with the help of our formal landscape and visual appraisal.
Land Studio founder Simon Richards and his wife Kate have a garden project of their own.
Planning permission has been granted for a new Additional Learning Needs school in Powys for which Land Studio has designed a landscape concept.
We have been commissioned to work with Cadbury College, a Sixth Form College in Birmingham which specialises in the teaching of students aged 16-19.
Land Studio, which celebrates its sixth anniversary this month, has been in the news after announcing a number of new project wins.
The new issue of Pro Landscaper magazine features an in-depth interview with Land Studio’s founder Simon Richards.
We have won a Department of Education bid project with the contractor Galliford Try to develop a design for the external spaces and wider infrastructure of a school in Lancashire.
Land Studio has been commissioned to design the private gardens for a luxury apartment development in Gibraltar.
We are part of a team working on detailed designs of the public realm and private courtyard spaces for hundreds of new homes due to be built in Bristol.
Land Studio is working on an exciting new project for the National Trust in the Lake District.
Kate, a Senior Landscape Architect at Land Studio, reflects on her work with a new heritage centre planned for the island of Anglesey.
Sian, an Assistant Landscape Architect at Land Studio, explains why she loved working on a landscape design project for Chester Racecourse.
Over the course of 2021, Land Studio has specified 820 new trees, 8.5km of new hedgerow and almost 36,000 m2 of new native meadow in our designs for clients.
The Land Studio team regularly cycle into work in Chester to reduce their carbon emissions.
Reconnecting people with nature is vital to tackling the impact of global warming, says Land Studio founder Simon Richards as world leaders gather in Glasgow for the Cop26 climate change conference.
A new school project in Wales has given us the opportunity to put nature at the very heart of the development.
We have been working with a firm of London architects to provide detailed landscaping designs to help to soften the façade of an office in Islington.
We’re looking for a Director of Civil Engineering to join our team.
Land Studio’s Kate Richards has been working on a voluntary basis with PLACED for the last ten years.
Land Studio designed a memorial garden to honour the memory of a North Wales resident.
We were interviewed about our work for this month’s issue of Pro Landscaper Magazine.
We have been working with the Barnston Estate in Cheshire on their new natural burial ground.
Land Studio advises on a farm diversification glamping scheme in Denbighshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Every month, we invite a member of the Land Studio team to showcase a trio of their favourite images and to tell us what makes them special. Sian Rossiter, one of our Graduate Landscape Architects, is responsible for this month’s exhibition.
At Land Studio, our vision is to connect people with nature through immersive environmental design. So when we were asked to work on the landscaping for an extension to a care home in North Wales, it was the perfect opportunity for us to integrate the new building with the rural character of its setting.
Heavy rain, flooding and a choppy tidal river made a garden project in Chester one of our most challenging projects in terms of delivery for the Land Studio team.
The Land Studio team is working on an extensive landscaping design plan for a new school in mid Wales which will help to deliver the strategy for The Future of Special Educational Needs (SEN)/ Additional Learning Needs (ALN) in Powys.
Our work to create a Registered Provision Garden for a Cheshire school.
We’re working on a new project with the National Trust’s Lyme Park.
Land Studio has been working with DGA Architects on designs for the new exclusive Canopies Champagne Garden for Chester Racecourse, ready for when race-goers are expected to be safely welcomed back to the course in May.
How the Land Studio team take inspiration for a new landscape design from lots of different places.
The Land Studio team have developed a landscape masterplan for London school, Eden Girls School, Waltham Forest in Walthamstow.
Land Studio in Chester has been working with a Star Academies school in Bradford to help them to transform their outdoor space into new natural play and learning areas for their children.
It’s great to see a completed project after first working on it as a design concept.
Here’s a progress shot showing the final phase of our podium gardens in Gibraltar.
We’re working with a Flintshire care home which is expanding and wants to create more communal outdoor spaces to support the wellbeing of its residents. We wanted to ‘bring the landscape to the users’, creating accessible spaces around the building where residents and their families can enjoy sensory planting and views across the countryside.
2020
At Land Studio we believe that landscape architects hold the keys to sustainable urban drainage of the future.
Land Studio has been working on a high-end multi-million-pound apartment development on the waterfront in Gibraltar.
Pupils at sixth form college have started using our new outdoor social space.
Land Studio has been working with Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School near Manchester to create an attractive outside seating area for their students.
Land Studio created a colourful new playground for St Mary’s School in Witney, Oxfordshire.
We're helping schools create new outdoor spaces for their pupils
We believe Land Studio’s approach to design is innovative and unique because we combine the creative freedom of hand drawings and traditional sketches in parallel with the advances of software technology by working in 3D with Revit and Twin Motion.
One of our specialisms is working in sensitive and historic landscapes to ensure that our work is carefully integrated. Read about our work at Delamere Forest.
Congratulations to three of our landscape architects for their Revit accreditation success.
We work closely with architects to help them show how a new building and the visual aspect of the landscape it sits in can be sensitively and successfully integrated. Read about how our work has helped to win a planning permission appeal on Anglesey.
Designing unique landscapes and transforming spaces is something we love doing. Read more about our latest private garden project on the banks of the River Dee in Chester.
Often to be seen on our Instagram account @land_studio Mr T is our furry survey assistant. Read what he has been up to this month.
Architect Projects featured our work with the Barnston Estate, one of Cheshire’s oldest family estates, on the design of a new natural burial ground. Monument Meadow is due to open in Farndon, Cheshire in 2021.
The Coronavirus pandemic has not only changed the world for ever, it will have a lasting impact on the future of landscape architecture. Read more about our reflections on our world during Covid-19.