LDA Design

If we aren’t trying to maximise positive social impact when we create new homes, places and spaces, then what are we actually doing? That’s not to say it’s easy. There is much to learn still about creating social value and getting it right. It’s why we’re thrilled, as long-standing supporters of The Developer, to sponsor their Festival of Place: Social Impact 2025. A chance for us all rethink the forces that shape our towns and cities over two long lunches. As always with a The Developer and Festival of Place event, there’s a diversity in the offer – from overcoming barriers in the market to creating affordable housing and assessing the social impact of rental homes to how we can better amplify marginal voices, putting young people into the heart of the design and development process. LDA Design’s Sophie Thompson and Chris Koster from Coastal Partners will be presenting too – discussing the opportunities for making investment in flood prevention work much harder for people and place. Sign up to learn together. It’s critical that we do. 📅 24-25 March 🕚 11:00-3:00pm 📍 Online Register to attend: https://lnkd.in/dbyRmpNG Christine Murray James MacLeod #socialimpact #TheDeveloper #FestivalOfPlace #LDADesign #placemaking #housing #ESG #socialvalue #planning #urbandesign #publicspaces #floodrisk #floodprevention #infrastructure #landscapearchitecture #sustainabledesign #inclusivedesign

LDA Design's Sophie Thompson in action with Chris Koster of Coastal Partners next week at The Developer and Festival of Place Social Impact. Two long lunches with loads to find out about how we make sure place-based work has a greater, fairer impact on more people. Needed now more than ever. https://lnkd.in/dbyRmpNG 📅 Tuesday 25th March 🕛 12-1pm 📍 Online Members free. Two-day agenda here: https://lnkd.in/eh6sPVzv Christine Murray James MacLeod #FestivalOfPlace #SocialImpact #UrbanPlanning #Placemaking #CityDesign #SocialHousing #PublicSpaces #BetterCities #Wellbeing #EmpatheticDesign #BetterPlaces #FairerPlaces

Thanks for having us University of Gloucestershire at your Practice Day. LDA Design's Jemma Hall and Georgina Perry had a great day and met some really interesting and interested students eager to find out more about life as a #landscapearchitect, #urbandesigner and #planner and what it's like to be part of an #employee-owned consultancy. This photo taken while they still had some sweets and postcards left. #University #careers #careersfair #practiceday #graduates #landscapearchitecture #urbandesign #planning #Bristol

Next week is The Developer and Festival of Place on Social Impact – two long lunches (24-25th March, 11-3pm) to get everyone thinking about how to maximise the positive impacts of new development. You can register and view the recordings when it suits if you can’t make space in your calendar. Well worth doing. https://lnkd.in/dbyRmpNG   LDA Design director Sophie Thompson and Chris Koster, team leader for Coastal Partners, will discuss how to make the Government’s £2.65 billion spend on flood defences work much harder so that long under-invested in coastal communities benefit more widely.   In ‘Beyond the Water’, Sophie and Chris will discuss their work together on #Southsea, the UK’s largest local-authority-led coastal defence scheme, which is reducing flood risk for more than 10,000 homes and 700 businesses along a 4.5km stretch of coast.   When first proposed, local people feared what this investment might look like and mean for Southsea, but the project team (including Portsmouth City Council Royal HaskoningDHV VolkerStevin Wessex Archaeology Southsea Coastal Scheme) have run with the opportunity to transform the seafront, with new public spaces, planting, play and comfy seating, all integrated with the coastal defences. 📅 Tuesday 25th March 🕛 12-1pm  📍 Online Members free. Full programme here: https://lnkd.in/eh6sPVzv Christine Murray James MacLeod #TheDeveloper #FestivalofPlace #digitallearning #socialimpact #socialvalue #placemaking #communitybenefits #bettertowns #floodrisk #flooding #coastalcommunities #investment #infrastructure #coastaldefence #landscapearchitecture #publicrealm

University College London has always been an education pioneer, and it continues to make bold moves. It is almost doubling in size with its new campus on #EastBank, the cultural quarter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. When we partnered with UCL and LLDC on a #masterplan for the #campus, we set out to create a new model which welcomes in the #community. So, for this week’s #SketchFriday, we’re looking back at the early thinking that laid the groundwork for what is being built out today at UCL East. Our ambition was to make sure the masterplan clearly expressed UCL’s academic vision and values by creating a social environment, connecting the buildings, the public realm and the wider Park setting. Key was the creation of a Fluid Zone, with space flowing in at ground and first floor level and sweeping upwards creating more opportunity to socialise for students and staff and pulling the public in to discover and learn. Here are some of the sketches from that masterplan. If you’re heading to the Park any time soon, check out the campus as it emerges, including One Pool Street, a self-catering halls of residence by architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, and Marshgate, a centre of research and learning designed by Stanton Williams. Here's an article we wrote which gives more detail: 'A place where great things can happen': https://lnkd.in/eyKxzP9j Bernie Foulkes Evgeny Didorenko #SketchFriday #watercolours #FluidZone #bettercity #community #LLDC #QueenElizabethOlympicPark #QEOP #EastBank #sketches #masterplan #London #University #campus

📢 Lean in. We’ve a great opportunity for #landscapearchitects in the #infrastructure world to join us. LDA Design provides creative leadership on some of the UK’s most exciting large-scale infrastructure projects, including much-needed #reservoirs, nationally significant #transport infrastructure and #renewable energy development. We solve problems with people and nature in mind, ensuring that what is delivered is community-focussed, lasting and #sustainable. So, how can you get involved? We are looking for talented and motivated people who can contribute to the #planning and #design of complex infrastructure projects with expertise and experience across pre- and post-planning, and pre-delivery stages. Sharing our values is important, so is a rich understanding of the social, environmental, and economic drivers of our times, plus an appreciation of the strength of #landscape, and ecosystem services in driving positive outcomes. A background in - and excitement for -  landscape design for large-scale infrastructure projects is a must. You will need a degree in landscape architecture and experience of working in a consultancy, plus a good understanding of infrastructure planning, design, EIA and delivery, including a knowledge of the relevant procedures and consenting regimes for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects. In return, you will be part of a 100% employee-owned business. We can offer you a great benefits package and an environment where you can progress your career and feel well looked after at the same time. So, why wait?! Use the coming weekend wisely and get in touch. Your next step is here: https://lnkd.in/dZwaGNM Alister Kratt Simon Railton Zeyna S. #jobalert #jobs #employment #jobopportunity #hiring #LDADesignHiring #joinus #employeeowned #employeeownership #landscape #landscapedesign #landscapearchitects #renewableenergy #NSIP #EIA #watermanagement #sustainabledesign #infrastructureplanning #planning

Registration closes soon for a CRASSH (University of Cambridge’s Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) workshop exploring the relationship between #water and #Cambridge. With many of our rivers in crisis, and water shortages across the south east and the ecosystem stress that results from this, plus feelings of exclusion and lack of access to water in Cambridge, there’s much to discuss. Aimed at young adults (12-18), the day includes a rain garden demo, talks, a film screening and a walk along a long a water course. LDA Design’s JJ Watters CMLI joins a panel exploring how water #conservation in green spaces is helping to boost #biodiversity, building resilience to climate breakdown. So, if you are 12-18 register now – or maybe after school 🙃 or if you know of anyone that this would be of interest to, do share. Should be a good day. Book your place: https://lnkd.in/ebmck3YB Programme: https://lnkd.in/ehuEncfS Tom Perry #Cambridge #waterconservation #watersensitivedesign #climateaction #raingardens #watermanagement #biodiversity #healthyrivers #ecology #SuDS #healthycity #greenercity #UniversityofCambridge #CentreforResearchintheArtsSocialSciencesandHumanities

The sun shone for a day well spent in #BrockwellPark with The Conservation Volunteers. On a community day out, a team from LDA Design's #London studio created a ‘dead hedge’ from branches, ideal shelter for frogs making their way to a nearby pond, reinforced the pond’s edge and cleared brambles. Hard work, muddy hands, and the odd soggy boot - but such a great day too. Thank you for having us #BrockwellPark. It was fantastic to be able to get stuck in and get lots done. A lovely reminder of what can be achieved through collective local action. Well done Oliver Haring, Tara Schwarze-Chintapatla, Beth Francis, Rhodri Sion Jones, Branwen Morus, Cara Gaffney, Lucca Clark, Leonie Hodgkin. Thank you for organising Susie Walston rebecca keeling 👏 And thanks for the 📸 Leonie Hodgkin #EO #EmployeeOwners #TCV #Volunteering #CommunityDay #London #Parks #StudioCulture #Conservation #ConservationInAction #StudioLife #UrbanNature #LDADesign #GivingBack #ESG #CSER

For decades, UK town centres have been shaped around the demands of retail chains; the revenue expectations of pension funds; land values and business rates; traffic and parking. But are we at the beginning of a new age for towns and town centres where people and communities are the drivers of change? The ingredients that towns will need to thrive in the future include a strong independent retail and cultural offer, diversity of uses, and partnerships between businesses, councils, and citizens. A coordinated approach is key, bringing all together to work in fresh ways and to agree on quick wins and long-term changes, with an easy-to-follow strategy that secures funding. #Shrewsbury is a fantastic example of what can happen with a Big Town Plan to kick everything off and now with #ShrewsburyMoves, a plan for future mobility. https://lnkd.in/efNkwzGz Find out more about how we have been working with town centres across the UK to build an appetite for change and coordinate actions, and how this is helping to boost civic pride. We've pulled together some of our recent work too, so that you can get a quick sense of what we are working on and where. A great piece of work by Clare Wilks. Contact Clare if you would like to discuss in more detail. https://lnkd.in/e5bATBWC #towncentres #placemaking #towns #actionplans #placeplans #urbandesign #masterplanning #BigTownPlans #inclusion #accessibility #thechangeweneedtosee

It’s around seven years ago (well done Bernie Foulkes) that we first started working with #Shrewsbury on a Big Town Plan that would set out ambitions for making the entire town a livelier place to live, work and visit. So, we’re chuffed to be invited to speak at next week’s #ShrewsburyMovesFestival – a four-day celebration of the joy of #walking, #cycling, dancing and even hula-hooping. The Festival will showcase how a changing Shrewsbury is better able to support easier and more enjoyable ways to move around the town, introducing Shrewsbury Moves: a 10-year vision and plan to transform movement and public space. LDA Design Director Mark Graham will be there on Friday 21st March to talk about our work not only on the Big Town Plan, but subsequently Riverside, Castle Street and the Shrewsbury Town Centre Design Code. 📅 20-23 March 🕛 12:00 - 13:00 - 21st March Shrewsbury #Placemaking and Design Code with Mark Graham, LDA Design and John Myatt, PJA https://lnkd.in/efNkwzGz #ShrewsburyMoves #towncentre #accessibility #placemaking #cycling #walking #publictransport #inclusion #inclusivedesign