Landscape Architecture Portfolio 2017

This article introduces my portfolio of my MA studies at Leeds Beckett University. I've added a snippet of garden design at the end.

My major design, which centered on Aykley Heads in Durham, UK, was wide-ranging in its research, analysis and strategic planning. This section could be subtitled 'Penetrating Verdant Valleys', since I want to encourage more Durham people to get outdoors and penetrate the valleys; and the steep small valleys of the Wear Lowlands which penetrate into Durham itself are too steep to develop on and therefore have remained significant high quality landscapes.

I then focussed on creating a new station hotel on the site of the long-stay car-park, which was relocated underground. The aim is to provide many benefits to both Durham visitors and residents such as a welcoming arrival to the city, youth employment, engagement with nature, and a public-transport-based center for city and countryside access. It would link to a reopened tunnel (existing, but closed off currently) under the east coast mainline which would allow cycle and pedestrian access to the beautiful Frankland Farm landscape, from where the best views of Durham Cathedral are to be seen.

I designed a multi-level hotel with upper and lower level access; with green roofs, a roof terrace and roof garden with glorious cathedral views, and a huge conservatory for bringing the outdoors in, particularly during our long winters. The landscape around is productive: kitchen gardens and orchard for the hotel; foraging and ornamental edible gardens for the public. A retention pond and rain garden disperse the hotel's rain water and provide a beautiful landscape feature, as well as bringing reflected light into the lower gardens.

Further projects within my MA studies cover green infrastructure, landscape and visual impact assessment, big-art design, landscape character assessment, ecological and woodland design.

The contemporary landscape history module involved the preparation of a series of presentations, of which the group presentation was a wonderful experience, combining theatrical presentation, extensive research, creativity, and courageous participation - enormous fun, albeit with a serious intent. We won the accolade of the best presentation ever made for that module!

And finally, my most photographed and admired garden of my many client- and site-specific gardens.

Pages:

1) An introduction to the kite-shaped Aykley Heads site, and analysis of the vicinity

2) Distilling the landscape character; understanding and interpreting the site potential and presenting a strategic layered masterplan for the wider site.

3) Site analysis for the bottom of the Aykley Heads site where Hoppers Wood Hotel is to be placed, followed by a layered description of the experiential elements of the design.

4) Some important features of Hoppers Wood Hotel: landscape, accessibility and engaging gardens.

In the public gardens I provided a soft landscape to forage in, and a crisper set of ornamental gardens for sitting, admiring or journeying through.

5) Structuring this was complex. It's highly important to get the levels right, and connect the elements satisfactorily.

6) Edible gardens. The strategy, styling and essential details.

7) The Cities Alive module was truly inspiring. Green Infrastructure is the most important theme in current landscape design. We need to integrate with our environment and make our built environments softer, greener, more welcoming and sustaining/sustainable.

8) It was great fun to create a big-art project; and a salutory exercise to have to investigate its landscape and visual impact. All development is improved by an exercise like this.

9) A hand-drawn masterplan for siting a visitor centre on Coniston Water. The module alerted us to the sensitivity of the visual impact and the effects on the vicinity; and mitigation measures involving intelligent locating of the site elements and creating woodland to screen and enhance elements.

10) A flavour of the outputs from the Masters course.

11) A highlight of my garden design career, in my beautiful, and well-loved garden. Site- and client-specific design at its best :)