Landscape Collective offers a cohesive approach to landscape planning, combining expertise in landscape strategy, landscape design and arboriculture. A relatively new practice, the small team of Landscape Architects has skills and knowledge gained from many years of working in the private and public sectors. With their strong entry onto the market, they seek to give pragmatic solutions to achieve successful development on all manner of projects.

very successful project needs a good sound analytical base, and a little inspiration. Working with developers, house-builders, planning teams and architects, Landscape Collective understands the importance of keeping abreast of changes in landscape architecture and planning policy. Innovation comes from being well informed. It’s a raison d’être they apply to an output that ranges from Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments (LVIAs), to Townscape and Visual Assessments, hard and soft landscaping proposals, to tree surveys.

‘For instance,’ suggests Stephen Wadsworth, Director, ‘being able to use arboricultural knowledge for design work and design expertise for suggesting inventive solutions for any assessments we undertake. We use state-of-the-art software to capture tree survey data in the field. Using iPads on site, we later transfer the survey data to Vectorworks using bespoke software to prepare solutions for our clients such as BS:5837:2012 compliant drawings and associated schedules. This maximizes our efficiency, benefitting clients and resulting in a userfriendly format for reports.’

Being a registered practice with the Landscape Institute, Stephen and his colleagues take to heart a commitment to imparting knowledge about landscape architecture to fellow practitioners working within the planning process. Also to the more junior members of the landscape profession and, as appropriate, to members of the public and the more junior members of the landscape profession and as appropriate to members of the public. ‘As a company, we regularly provide CPD events. These are typically lunch or breakfast time presentations that give an impression of what is to be a landscape planning company and what are the key outputs we can provide followed by a question and answer session. We are always happy to offer our services as guest speakers.’

This has inspired a simple overall aim that is entirely realistic and well within the bounds of feasibility for Landscape Collective: to ultimately be one of the best known and most dependable landscape consultancies on the market. To achieve this, Stephen recognises that he and his colleagues will have to keep ensuring that whatever they take on, they do it well and to listen to their clients’ objectives and feedback.

This is bound to be a task made easier by the input of the team, who at present are all multi -disciplinary. This, combined with the fact that they all have a wealth of experience in planning, design and arboriculture, allows them to save their clients valuable time and money. ‘Our solutions to planning issues are very well informed,’ says Stephen, ‘and we are less likely to overlook potential planning conflicts that can trip up practices that just cover one or two of the above disciplines. Instead, we offer a personal and high quality service, meeting our clients’ requirements quickly, efficiently and professionally. Our expert knowledge and breadth of experience allow us to provide responsive, bespoke, and effective solutions to assist our clients through the planning process.’

Landscape Collective also benefits from being able to collaborate with sister companies Heritage Collective and Archaeology Collective, where these specialisms are needed by clients.

Since the company’s foundation, Landscape Collective has operated nationwide, in both rural and urban situations and on projects of different scales and complexity. ‘One of our most successful projects to date,’ Stephen recalls, ‘has been in Cornwall, where we provided the landscape input into a scheme to redevelop a former mining site that had been redundant for years. The important thing we took away from that project was the effectiveness of a good project team, good communication with the client and how engagement with the public can lead to a successful outcome and secure a great result for the client.’

There are many uncertainties for Landscape Collective’s industry over the next 12 months, with the implications of Brexit yet to be fully realised. However, as Stephen makes fully clear, the future is never all that certain to begin with, and there are likely to be as many opportunities arise as constraints. ‘House building,’ he says, ‘is likely to be a constant and it is important that as landscape professionals, we work with the sector to implement development and associated infrastructure. We want to secure good schemes that work well for end users, as well as house builders, and are sympathetic to the needs of the environment.’

Overall, Stephen and his team members are keen to continue their expansion as a company, whilst further consolidating themselves as a dependable ‘go-to’ consultancy for their existing client base. In this regard, their future work programme at this moment certainly has a variety and breadth to it, from large urban extensions to smaller – but no less involved – sites.
‘We are always seeking to work with new clients,’ Stephen finishes, ‘while striving to maintain a personal, high quality service with our existing clients.’

Company: Landscape Collective
Name: Stephen Wadsworth, Director
Email: [email protected]
Web Address: www.landscapecollective.co.uk
Address: Henry Wood House, 2 Riding House Street, London W1W 7FA Telephone: 020 3770 7615