LDA Design is marking its 40^th anniversary. The power of landscape to blaze new trails has never been stronger. We asked Andrew Harland, our chairman, to look at some of the defining moments.

LDA Design has helped Trinity College in Oxford secure planning for the College’s first major revamp of its historic Broad Street site in fifty years.

One of the themes for this year’s International Women’s Day (March 8) is balance for better. This message of inclusivity is powerful, and resonates with us greatly.  

In one month, Frazer, Sophie, Benjamin and Mark will be heading to Cannes for MIPIM 2019. Four days, 260,000 people, 360 speakers,100 countries. Incredible in its scale and breadth. 

A bold strategy, prepared by LDA Design, to use a major housing delivery programme to fulfil Exeter’s potential has been unveiled by the city council.

Consultation is now open on ambitious plans by Westminster City Council, supported by LDA Design, to transform the Strand in Aldwych, one of London’s most famous streets, into a safer and more enjoyable place. The proposals include removing traffic along a 200-metre stretch, creating an exciting new piece of public realm.

Liverpool City Council has appointed LDA Design’s Manchester office, led by Mark Graham, to develop a masterplan for the city’s Baltic Triangle, one of the UK’s fastest emerging creative hot spots. It is the new studio’s first major win.

Edinburgh City Council has unveiled plans to enhance the civic grandeur of George Street, one of the Scottish capital’s principal shopping thoroughfares. The scheme, which feeds into a citywide vision for long-term growth, will help Edinburgh to remain a vibrant place to live and visit.

LDA Design landscape architect and senior consultant, Kirsty Barker, is about to set off on an epic adventure.

Investment in the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford ‘Growth Corridor’ is one of the surest ways of propelling the UK economy, providing growth opportunities for the country as a whole, argues a new report produced by LDA Design and launched at MIPIM UK.

The very best office openings are marked with a good party. LDA Design’s arrival in Bristol was no exception as Board Director Frazer Osment and the LDA Design team hosted the launch of our new office in Bristol’s Engine Shed.

Science Gallery London blends science and art to appeal to a new audience both young and old. This is the first gallery of its kind in the UK and LDA Design has worked to make it as accessible as possible, creating new public realm that draws people in and encourages them to linger.

Water is at the heart of LDA Design’s landscape-led masterplan for Oktyabrsky Island in Kaliningrad, Russia, which has won an international competition run by Strelka KB with the support of the regional Kaliningrad government.

Albert Island, a brand new shipyard on the River Thames – the first in 300 years, is being proposed as part of an ambitious regeneration designed to counter the loss of creative and productive land use in London.

Peabody, one of London’s oldest and largest housing providers, has appointed a consortium headed by LDA Design to set out a landscape-led vision for the regeneration of Thamesmead in South East London.

LDA Design has helped bring to life a vision for a new waterside neighbourhood on the Isle of Dogs. A planning application for the development on the site of the former Westferry Printworks has been submitted to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

LDA Design is part of a consortium led by Moscow-based architects ASADOV shortlisted for a new eco-district in Kazan, south-west Russia.

A ground-breaking Big Town Plan has been drafted for Shrewsbury, setting out an ambitious, landscape-led vision for how this historic county town will look by 2036. LDA Design has developed the Plan with partners Shrewsbury Bid, Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council.

Camden Council and LDA Design have revealed exciting new designs for three new and improved green spaces in London’s West End.

The University of Portsmouth’s new multi-million pound sports facility, with public realm by LDA Design, has been given the green light by the City’s Council.

Today is EO Day. The perfect time to announce that LDA Design is to become an employee-owned business.

Plans for a new town at Waterbeach, close to Cambridge, have been revealed as developer RLW Estates seeks planning to build 4,500 new homes.

The plans for London’s new cultural quarter in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East Bank, were revealed this week by London Mayor Sadiq Khan. They represent the largest cultural investment in London since the Festival of Britain and the South Bank.

The transformation of The Royal Parks’ much-loved Brompton Cemetery has scooped top prize for Restoration or Conservation at the 2018 Museum + Heritage awards.

UCL East was highly commended in the Stakeholder Engagement category at this year’s Planning Awards.

Alto Apartments, set within a transformed Wembley Park, has been named Development of the Year at Property Week’s 2018 RESI Awards.

LDA Design is making a bold move and expanding its operations, setting up new start-ups offices in Bristol, Cambridge and Manchester. All three cities have thriving local economies and are focal points for regional growth.

LDA Design is part of a multi-disciplinary team working to transform Euston station in London.

What does it feel like, to take on the challenge of a lifetime – racing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean?

Glasgow City Council has signed an agreement with Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) and Keepmoat Homes to deliver more than 800 new homes at the Sighthill Transformational Regeneration Area (TRA) in the city. Keepmoat will work with LDA Design to bring forward the new development.

Promotions time at LDA Design…

Come and join us – we’re recruiting. We’d love to hear from you.

The Landscape Apprenticeships Trailblazer group of employers, including LDA Design, has received government approval to develop new landscape apprenticeships in England.

LDA Design’s transformation of Aberdeen’s Union Terrace Gardens is set to come to life later this year after the detailed planning application was unanimously approved by Aberdeen City Council’s Planning Development Management Committee.

University College London (UCL) has been granted outline planning permission by London Mayor Sadiq Khan for its new campus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

‘What three words would your friends use to describe you’ is one of those classic interview questions that can be difficult to answer.

Journalist Hattie Hartman posed an important question in this week’s Architects’ Journal: should all masterplans be landscape-led? We believe the answer is yes. Here’s why.

LDA Design Project Consultant and landscape architect, Kirsty Barker, is taking on the challenge of a lifetime: to row more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic to raise awareness of the impact of single-use plastics on the marine environment.

Three LDA Design projects feature on this year’s Planning Awards shortlist.

In the UK we often seem to have low expectations of new infrastructure. LDA Design’s Alister Kratt asks why. Is it a fear of change and the unknown? Or is it that we are not seeing national infrastructure through a wide enough lens, and thinking about positive local outcomes and properly considering design quality: are we just not telling – and believing – the right kinds of stories? 

LDA Design has been appointed to help deliver a ‘Big Town Plan’ for Shrewsbury, one of England’s finest county towns.

Does anyone really understand how forests will respond to the rise in carbon dioxide?

Highland councillors have approved plans for a new GFG Alliance alloy car wheel factory, near Fort William in Scotland. Production of up to two million wheels a year could begin as early as 2020, creating up to 400 direct new jobs.

LDA Design and WSP have been appointed by Plymouth City Council to transform the city’s public realm, drawing people back into the centre.

Consultants WYG and LDA Design have been appointed by The City of Edinburgh Council to draw up a long-term vision for George Street, one of the Scottish capital’s principal shopping streets.

Last night, Westminster City Council Cabinet gave its unanimous support for the Church Street masterplan by Peter Brett Associates (PBA) and LDA Design. This approval follows seven weeks of public consultation.

Historic England has published the second edition of its good practice advice note on the setting of historic assets. The guidance will help local planning authorities and those proposing change to heritage assets. LDA Design contributed to the consultation.

Two thirds of people polled in a recent survey in Britain felt that a sense of community has declined in their lifetime. A new essay by LDA Design shows the way that new homes are masterplanned presents an incredible opportunity to reverse this trend.

Over 40 delegates joined LDA Design’s Frazer Osment at a recent Garden Villages breakfast briefing in Oxford led by Lord Taylor of Goss Moor who was instrumental in developing the government’s garden villages policy.

LDA Design’s flood defence scheme in Littlehampton in west Sussex has won further recognition from the Royal Town Planning Institute, this time picking up a South East award for Excellence in the Innovative Delivery of Infrastructure.

Historic England has extended the designation of the Belvoir Estate in Leicestershire to include a previously overlooked gem, Knipton Reservoir, following detailed research by landscape historian and writer Steffie Shields and LDA Design.

LDA Design is helping to create the first of the Eden Project’s visitor centres in China.

The Eden Project is embarking on developing visitor centres in the US, Tasmania and three in China. Grimshaw Architects and LDA Design have been appointed to create the first of these – a new ecological park near the port city of Qingdao on China’s east coast.

Proposed energy project Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon has added to its trophy cabinet with a win at this year’s Engineer Awards, scooping the top prize for Energy, Efficiency & Sustainability. 

Wandsworth Council has given planning consent for Palmerston Court, a new housing development on the southern tip of Nine Elms in Battersea, one of the UK’s most exciting urban regeneration projects.

The Scottish Government has granted consent for 50-turbine South Kyle Wind Farm in the Scottish Uplands of East Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway. The result follows a Public Inquiry which determined that the benefits of the wind farm would be significant.

Circus West, the first phase of the transformation of Battersea Power Station into a place that people call home, completes this summer. It opens up a precious new stretch of Thames riverside on the western side of the Power Station, connecting to Battersea Park.

LDA Design has helped renewable energy company RES secure consent for the expansion of the Hill of Towie Wind Farm in Moray.

LDA Design’s public realm scheme for the seaside town of Littlehampton in west Sussex has won a Royal Town Planning Institute’s Excellence in Planning Award for the Innovative Delivery of Infrastructure.

For this year’s practice day, LDA Design gathered in Glasgow for Cruinn Còmhla ’17, Scots Gaelic for a celebration that brings people together.

Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon was a big winner at the 2017 Planning Awards, coming away with the top prize in two categories: Infrastructure Planning and Sustainability.

A scheme to transform South Kilburn, part of a major regeneration programme, has been shortlisted for this year’s New London Awards 2017.

New EIA regulations which come into force in England on 16 May 2017 will expand their scope and requirements. Developers can now demonstrate that an EIA is not required by describing the features and measures which will avoid or prevent significantly adverse effects on the environment at the screening stage. This could screen out borderline EIA developments but a level of certainty will still be needed that mitigation measures can be delivered.

LPAs will still need to adopt a screening opinion within three weeks, but this can be extended if the developer agrees.