Tract Consultants’ Post

The SGD Student Awards have been a springboard for some of the biggest names in garden design, boosting their visibility and reputation at the very start of their career. Now it's your chance. Enter before 25th September this year to take advantage of discounted entry fees and give yourself the opportunity to join our impressive list of alumni. If you are a Student Member, Pre-registered Member or Friend of the SGD who graduated in 2023 or who will be graduating in 2024 you are now invited to submit projects in one or more of our three Student Award categories: * Commercial Design * Domestic Design * Urban Sustainability There is no limitation on the size or type of project or number of project entries you can submit. Judges will be looking for outstanding design skills and a demonstration of a clear understanding of the brief provided. In line with the SGD’s continued commitment to addressing the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis, a stipulation of all entries is that gardens must benefit the environment by demonstrating sustainability and biodiversity. Gardens with artificial turf or foliage will not be accepted. Entry information, guidelines and application forms are now available on the SGD Website. https://lnkd.in/ewgmJ4w7 Garden design by Sophie Knittel, finalist at the SGD Student Awards 2024

Softwood Lumber Board's (SLB) “Forest to Classroom” faculty workshops are expanding wood education across architecture and engineering programs nationwide. By training professors in wood design and sustainable forestry practices, SLB empowers educators to bring real-world wood solutions into their classrooms. This initiative is building a generation of architects and engineers equipped with knowledge of wood’s environmental and structural benefits—driving long-term growth for wood in the built environment. Read more in the article below. https://lnkd.in/gs9H4suq

HarrisonStevens are enhancing their nature based solutions portfolio with recent commissions at Fettes College. We have secured both the Landscape Management Plan and the Wellbeing Centre projects in recent months and are delighted at the progress of both. The Landscape Management Plan (LHMP) provides a review of the whole 100-acre campus to consider the positive environmental contribution it makes to the city. It will build on the school’s previous plan, a comprehensive document which has directed the management of the landscape over the last 25 years. Environmental and design practices have evolved, global considerations and priorities have changed. It is therefore important that now is the time to have a refresh and to rejuvenate the LHMP for the next generation of Fettesians. Our proposals will set out an holistic framework for the care and enhancement of the Fettes College landscape. The landscape provides a setting for the scholarly life, through sports, the curriculum, and the pastoral aspects of the school, which leads to an enhanced sense of wellbeing and healthy lives. It is important therefore to ensure the long-term sustainability of the landscape, the trees and woodlands, the pitches, the walks and drives, and the design landscape setting of the school buildings. The campus estate is beautiful and we have enjoyed many a site visit over the last few months, mature trees and woodlands structure the campus providing spaces in between for school life. These woodlands and rides of mature trees play host to various school activities such as outdoor lessons and pursuits, mountain bike trails, cross country runs and simply a place to relax and enjoy nature. The impact the landscape has on everyday aspects of the school life is not to be underestimated. In addition to the vision of the wider campus we are working within the consultant design team lead by Page\Park to deliver the new Wellbeing Centre on the east side of the campus. We provide landscape architect services which while ensuring the environs and setting of the new building is sensitive and appropriate to the character and scale of its context, it acknowledges that trees are of paramount concern. The existing trees in close proximity to the proposed new Wellbeing Centre are to be carefully managed and protected during the construction stage of the project. HarrisonStevens look forward to the delivery of the project, currently in stage 4, including the protection of the trees and the establishment of a new centre set within the existing mature landscape.’ #LandscapeManagementPlan #WellbeingCentre #FettesCollege #naturebasedsolutions #environmentaldesign #sustainability #campusdesign

Since its introduction in 2014 the success rate of Class Q applications (agricultural to residential PD rights) have varied significantly across different local authorities. ONS collected data recently published DLUHC data identifies 1,718 applications were submitted in England in 2023 of which 1,134 were allowed (either granted or did not need prior approval) resulting in an overall approval rate of c66%. We have taken a closer look at the decisions in and around the Home Counties in 2023 which demonstrates the variation in approach of Local Authorities. Within these authorities four of these rated in the top national 20 LPAs for allowing the most conversions in 2023; South Cambs ranked 11th, Buckinghamshire ranked at joint 12th position, Tendring ranked 17th and Uttlesford ranked joint 18th  Note these statistics only included authorities that received ten or more applications within the year. From our analysis of the local region (not taking into account the number of applications received) the top five places were awarded to =1 Colchester =1 Broxbourne =1 North Hertfordshire 2  West Northamptonshire 3  Braintree =4 Stratford on Avon =4 Warwick 5  East Hertfordshire In contrast Central Bedfordshire, Bracknell Forest and St Albans District Council refused 100% of applications made in the locality. It will be interesting to see what trends the revisions to the permitted development rights brings in forthcoming months and years!

Second GREENVEU meeting day brought a very interesting insight into Romanian landscape educational-labour ecosystem by Mihai Culescu (RPR): 🎓 University educates landscape architects, that are designing new green and renovation projects. However, there are no VET-skilled gardeners to carry out the design or maintain, let alone urban gardeners. This work is done by day-workers: workers from rural area’s, driving into town in groups of 5 (fitting one car). These unskilled workers are updated within a few hours to execute level 1-2 planting work 🌳 For more complex work such as tree maintenance, this is another ball game: “The higher the plants, the less skilled people.”  There are next-to-no tree experts and no knowledge to maintain city trees, resulting in the fast decline of numbers of trees in Bucharest, either in parks or on the trees. 🌿 This is where the European Platform for Urban Greening came in: Urban gardner is a now (almost!) an official profession, and a corresponding curriculum was put into place. 🌏 GREENVEU insights, strategies and materials will be used used to recruit for the enrollment in the first round of the education. 🚀 WorldSkills Romania indentified the new obligatory national Green Week for every highschool (yes, Ministry of Education policy) as a great recruitment opportunity: They developed a 40 hr program on urban green for school to easily, using the Worlds of Green.

On my way home from my annual Regenerative Design lecture at the University of Bath.   This year marked a change from previous years, as I felt confident enough to table a #Model for #RegenerativeDesign (#verb) that I have developed through my work with The Institution of Structural Engineers and our collaborators in this space. I’m very conscious that many others have put out models of their own, so I won’t be arrogant enough to claim that what I have drawn is in some way ‘better’ – it simply represents how I think about the topic at the moment.   In the lecture we explored examples from the built environment that aligned with the principles in my model, to try and understand how projects today give us a glimpse into the future of the built environment. This included: 🧭The UEA Enterprise Centre (place-based discovery of materials to build from); ➕The Eden Project Dundee (and an ambition to reuse gasholders to create more buildings than just those gasholders); 🎍The Arc School Bali and the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School India (both of which use local materials and labour to ensure long-term resilience); 🔧Holbein Gardens London (used to accelerate cross-industry adoption of reclaimed steel); 🏠Phoenix Community Housing Development (setting a new bar for homebuilding at scale); 🌉Bridges to Prosperity (a charity that enables communities to build their own bridges); 🌱Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (whose construction was based all around the UN SDGs, was place-based in its approach to materials, construction, energy and use, changed the in-country rhetoric on earth-based construction, and led to further positive outcomes through spin-off co-ops and projects).   None of these are small projects. None of them were built without a budget. All of them can be judged against the human and environmental metrics of things like Doughnut Economics. And all of them have been designed in a way that strives for positive outcomes.  ✅✅✅✅   Bit shout out to the students at Bath, particularly those who spoke up, engaged with the projects, and convinced me that if students who are five weeks into an undergrad degree can get their head around regenerative design, then we all can. What do you think of the model? #climateemergency #climatecrisis #climatebreakdown #sustainability #regenerative #regenerativedesign #biodiversity

“Transforming arrival experiences to create unique, welcoming, and safe zones, for the college and for the surrounding community.” In collaboration with the Department of Education, Place Design Group provided the design, documentation, and construction for Bardon State School’s entry landscape. The revitalisation was important for enhancing access and pathway networks as well as providing vibrancy and addressing safety. These front-of-school upgrades were designed to improve accessibility and support outdoor learning activities and gatherings for the school community – incorporating covered seating areas, new planting, screens and buffers, shade trees and new pathway access into the school to create a unique and comfortable arrival experience. The resulting landscape design considered the heavy wear encountered in the school environment, with low maintenance requirements, the long-term viability of planting areas, and the use of durable materials that complement the school's existing character. View more: https://lnkd.in/gmSNUR4D CLIENT: Queensland Department of Education PROJECT: Bardon State School SECTOR: Education CONTACT: Rob Waddell #educationdesign #landscapearchitecture #design #learningenvironments #education #schools #Australianeducationlandscapearchitecture #stemeducation #departmentofeducation

Balancing Heritage and Housing Needs - We are thrilled to share that our designs for Elmers Field in Ockley, Surrey, were approved at planning committee! This carefully considered scheme of 20 new homes, located just beyond the village boundary, balances the need for housing with highly sensitive local landscape, heritage and biodiversity. Situated within an Area of Great Landscape Value, partly within Ockley’s Conservation Area, and adjacent to Ancient Woodland, the development respects the rural setting. The masterplan retains views of nearby Leith Hill from public footpaths, and the homes that are orientated to preserve visual connections for neighbouring properties to the surrounding countryside. The design includes a mix of homes, with 40% affordable housing to meet the needs of local young families. The architecture reflects the local vernacular, using a palette of bricks, clay tiles, and oak-framed porches. Sustainable features such as air source heat pumps are carefully integrated, along with native hedgerow and tree planting, enhancing local biodiversity. The Parish Council said: ‘House design is in line with the local vernacular and meets the need in the village for 2 & 3 bedroom homes. This will encourage young families to the village which in turn will bring economic gain to local businesses and revitalise the village’ We are proud to have worked as part of a great team to create a landscape-sensitive scheme that thoughtfully balances heritage with much-needed housing. Find out more here: https://loom.ly/jL7ny8Y Thank you to the whole team: Savills: Guy Dixon Lizzie Withall The Ecology Co-op: Sam Lunn Aegaea Limited: Daniel Cook BSc (Hons) MSc C.WEM MCIWEM Ardent Consulting Engineers: David Howson Kevin M. Ecology Solutions: Alastair Macquire #hnwarchitects #makepossible #masterplan #sensitive #landscape #biodiversity #housing #affordablehousing #planning

+1 terrace_southern side = farmland architecture it's in part of #production There are 4 pathways for continuing from a basis while most parent always sees only 1 way. Agriculture is not limited by vegetable planting. This is a big mistake in this society and has impacted on children with 2 generations in the past and present. Day 1,2 garden & kitchen education/ basis & way 13-15 years old https://lnkd.in/gZ8YAySc Vol.18 1st Language

Working alongside Morgan Sindall Construction and MCW Architects on ARU Peterborough's campus development, we've contributed to a project that sets new benchmarks in environmental design and social value. 🏗️ Our landscape architecture team's involvement has been integral to creating a campus that aspires to achieve BREEAM Excellent certification. By incorporating sustainable design principles throughout, from innovative rainwater management systems to carefully selected planting schemes, we've helped minimise the development's environmental impact while maximising its positive influence on the local community. 👷 It's particularly rewarding to see how the site has become a living classroom during construction, providing valuable learning opportunities for ARU students and local apprentices. This perfectly aligns with our belief that great design should contribute to both environmental sustainability and community development. As the campus continues to evolve, we're proud to be part of a collaboration that pushes boundaries in sustainable design with each new phase, creating spaces that will inspire and nurture future generations. 🤝 Learn more about this transformative project: https://lnkd.in/e2rsVe4u #UrbanDesign #HigherEducation #Sustainability #LandscapeArchitecture #Peterborough