By incorporating Lucy’s approach to spatial design, we can place an important emphasis on nature as our primary resource in the planning, design and management of land. This means we provide a better level of service to our clients and align with our focus on creating sustainable and inviting public spaces that boost community wellbeing and bring people together.
The increasing worldwide focus on restoring nature –and the need not just to restore biodiversity, but also our relationship with nature – has significantly raised the profile of green and blue infrastructure design. And not a moment too soon!
Our green infrastructure team, headed up by Lucy, works with an interdisciplinary approach to incorporate ecology, arboriculture and landscape services from the very outset of a project. Her strategy goes beyond improving ecological and aesthetic aspects; it tackles wider issues like climate adaptation, resilience and reducing urban heat. Through early technical modelling and collaborating across disciplines, we work to maximise the benefits of nature in urban areas, making public spaces more accessible and enjoyable for all.
This ensures that habitats and environmental functions, such as nature-based solutions, are woven seamlessly into project proposals. We go beyond only mitigating impacts to enhancing and connecting habitats. We’re able to optimise natural processes and their functionality within a development.
That’s where green and blue infrastructure projects – our habitats, parks, rivers and wetlands – build in multiple benefits.
For example, alongside recreational, respite and food-growing spaces, a public park can integrate attenuation spaces to collect rainwater. These act like a sponge and sustainably irrigate planted areas and also avoid unmanageable stormwater discharge into rivers.
