Ethos
Values
People
All we do is centred around people.
Designing at a diverse human scale is critical to ensuring that people of all ages and abilities are able to use and enjoy their environment. The key to this is understanding how an existing neighbourhood functions – both from the perspective of existing residents, and the future communities that may live there. Once you understand the people you are designing for, then you can deliver places which will allow them to thrive.
Place
Our projects are all shaped by an understanding of place.
The ability to nurture a sense of place through design, is a fundamental tenet of urbanism. What makes a place – rural or urban – special to those that live, work and visit is unique to each individual, but as planners and designers we are aware of the built environment as both a physical space and a social construct, and one that is ultimately inherited and created by people.
Nature
Our practice is truly landscape-led.
We place biodiversity at the centre of our working practices. Understanding the environmental capacity of a site to accommodate change, and then working with the inherent nature to conserve and enhance the site while providing net biodiversity gain across it, is something which we use as a basic framework on all our projects; and using landscape as the tool to successfully integrate a site with its urban and/or rural context is fundamental to this.
Approach
Collaborative
We thrive when working in a team.
We always seek to build consensus through dialogue in all of our projects. Working alongside our clients we look to build teams who are able to both deliver the technical skills required and also critical thinking which promotes truly sustainable and innovative solutions. To do this, we believe in bringing together the best people - from the arts, sciences, academia and industry – for each and every project.
Research-led
Our practice is founded on knowledge.
We are forward looking, and as such a commitment to innovation informs our work. We regularly undertake research projects - both commissioned and self-initiated – to explore new ideas and approaches that can be applied to our day-to-day work. We also actively encourage all our team to engage with professional and industry organisations to ensure we are at the forefront of our professions and able to benefit from emerging technologies and techniques.
Holistic
We believe the built environment is an ecosystem.
Mankind and nature are intrinsically linked, and understanding this is critical to addressing the combined climate and biodiversity crises that we are facing. Long-term thinking around how to improve our urban environments in a way that reflects natural cycles and minimises our footprint on the planet underpins all of our projects.
‘…We shall leave this city not less, but greater and better than when we received it…’
— an Athenian Oath