LANDSCAPE CONSTRUCTION
Before working at CAT I was a partner in a small landscape construction business. When I arrived at CAT, although there were already gardeners on the staff, none were particularly interested in the design aspect of horticulture, or the potential of landscape work to embody and communicate environmental messages.
After a few demonstrations I persuaded my new colleagues that creative but functional landscaping was a cost-effective way of delivering a whole raft of sought-for outcomes. We even ran courses on Ecological Landscaping.
After a short while I realised I was working from an implicit set of principles that amounted to what Christopher Alexander famously called a 'Pattern Language'. I tried to write these principles down:
A Landscape Pattern Language (doc) 2001
There were many problems to solve, perhaps some of them impossible, but we always gave it a go, and tried to apply the Principles, for example
Planting Up the Railway (doc)
More recently, I completed a draft plan for a new Insect-friendly garden in St Albans, jointly with my colleague Professor Stuart Reynolds. This was submitted as part of a competition, which we won:
I always enjoyed stonework, and an old slate quarry offered many opportunities. This is the pool that drives the water-balanced cliff raiway, before being filled. The feed water for the railway runs through a grille set in the angled arch. The ‘steps’ are simply to help people get out if they fall in!