Henry Monnington's Landscape Blog

Me and two other designers have submitted and have been accepted into the Long border competition for RHS Tatton Park flower show 2023. Our border is called the Coastal Whisper and has taken inspiration from the UK coast, particularly along Cornwall and Devon. We all visit these spaces frequently, and have done throughout our lives. We have developed personal connections to these spaces and wanted to replicate it for our Tatton Park border.  The border is made up from grasses, some found along the coast and some that aren't but still create the desired effect. A small imitation boardwalk will also run through the border. This will be my first garden show and therefore I am looking forward to learnt process of designing and building a show border. Fingers crossed for nice weather.

  This is the album art that I created for the artist OrageOrange. I created a total of 6 pieces for this project (the other 5 are single covers). The forms of the artwork was inspired by the contours of South Oxfordshire, where the artist lives. All the artwork was completed on Adobe Illustrator.

 Filed Operations create public spaces with a people centred approach that integrate soft ecological systems Into the public realm. They have several famous projects such as the High Line, NY or the Nay Yard Central Green , Pennsylvania. The majority of their projects are US based but they design spaces globally. Personally, I really like their design approach as well as the materiality choices in a lot of their projects. Their people centred approach with an appreciation for local culture and ecology align with my design ambitions. 

 Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl focus on creating liveable cities through designing a vibrant public realm that also focuses on nature-based solutions. They create a vibrant public realm that focuses on community, nature, learning, pleasure, health and wellbeing. They have studios across the world and used blue-green solutions to design water management into the surrounding area.  Constructed in 2012, the Tianjin Cultural Park is built on an area with a high water table. The park sits between the city's opera house and the city hall with the outdoor space creating dynamic pedestrian routes. The large lake doubles as a key feature creating views from the opera house as well as a balancing pond that can handle storms and reduces temperatures. 

 Hargreaves Jones have been landscape architecture and landscape planning projects since 1983. They have offices in New York, Cambridge and San Fransisco. They create large scale landscapes across the world, mostly in the USA, which are often urban spaces and large areas on the waterfront. They 'approach each project as an opportunity to reveal the unique qualities of a place.' Therefore each design takes a different unique direction beside on the area. The Louisville Waterfront Park is a large scale project built on the waterfront in Louisville, Kentucky. The site was formerly used for transportation and industry and has now been transformed into a social space that has boosted the areas profile and economy. It is well integrated with the river system and has "recaptured the energy of the early 19th century working waterfront."

  These are several visualisations drawn on Photoshop for a conceptual design of Alney Island. These 4 visualisation show different areas of the Proposed Design. The concept behind the design is based from Starling murmurations. These collective displays contain hundreds of thousands of individual birds to create this amazing arial spectacle that can be seen dancing across the evening sky in Autumn. This collaborative coming together of individuals is the intention for the Alney Island site. With individuals coming together on site to form a collective for communication, recreation and relaxation. 

 The first practice I have looked at is LUC. They are an environmental consultancy that work in a range of environmental disciplines, for example, Landscape Design, EIAs and Ecology. They are a company of over 200 professionals, with a focus on promoting climate change through sustainable development.    A project completed in 2014 by LUC is the Tumbling Bay Playground in Stratford, London. This play space was built on the site of the Olympic Park and con trains several play areas catering to several abilities. The play area is planted with native species throughout and play equipment is built from natural materials, allowing children to play amongst nature. There is also a water play area which develops collaborative skills. I like this project as it follows the principles of natural play and would be the kind of project I would love working on. I really like the clean design and the projects planting. LUC's values are: - Collaboration - Innovation - Conscience - Excelle...