Looking Forwards in Heritage Landscapes with Nigel Dunnett
In this Surrey Gardens Trust talk, Nigel Dunnett will highlight how his planting designs at several heritage landscapes have helped to create sustainable planting within the constraints of these historic properties. He will focus primarily on these projects: The Tower of London Superbloom (transformation of the moat into a permanent new natural landscape), Trentham Estate Gardens (perennial meadow garden around the Capability Brown designed lake); and The Barbican Centre, London (new planting schemes for podium landscapes).
A primary objective of Nigel’s work has been to move the consideration of planting design and landscape horticulture from a largely cosmetic, decorative and functional role, to one that is also central to the discussion of how to address the major problems of climate change and a sustainable future. And, while ecological ideas in landscape design have often been applied at the larger scale, his focus is at both the large scale and at the smaller scale: gardens, urban parks, on and around buildings, and in high-density built development, applying ecological concepts within horticulture, landscape architecture and garden design. Specifically, this work has included bold and dramatic naturalistic planting design; ‘modern meadows’; Water-Sensitive Urban Design and SuDS applications; biodiversity-enhancing design; and green roofs and roof gardens.
Nigel Dunnett is Professor of Planting Design and Urban Horticulture in the Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield, and is a pioneer to new ecological and sustainable approaches to gardens, landscapes and public space. Nigel applies his research through practice as a consultant and designer, and is a gold medalist at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. In November 2018 Nigel won the Landscape Institute Award 2018 for Planting Design, Public Horticulture and Strategic Ecology, and the Landscape Institute Fellows Prize for Most Outstanding Project, both for The Barbican.
London. Time: 18:00 GMT
