Design for Public Spaces study tour of Lisbon with Edinburgh Napier University Since 2021 Mike has been leading a Design for Public Spaces module on the Spatial Design course at Edinburgh Napier University.  It is a trimester long course for the third year students, where they are set a brief to propose, design and detail an intervention into an existing public space.  Cities of study have been Glasgow and Copenhagen with George Square given a makeover in 2022.  We are all following the real-world proposals from McAslan and Partners with interest.  This year the public spa ..read more

The annual study tour has become a flagship event in the HarrisonSteven’s extra-curricular calendar. It brings together a culmination of the knowledge acquired in our monthly CPDs and curiosity in our day-to-day practice and allows us to apply it to some of the most-well renown, and possibly less well known landscape projects in the different corners of the world. Due to the COVID pandemic, over the last few years the study tour has been a little closer to home than usual. This year we were delighted to head down to London to visit a selection of some of the inspiring landscape designs that th ..read more

We’re excited to introduce Tom Stephenson, who has just graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with (MLA) Landscape Architecture. After working with us part-time while he studied, he has come to work full-time with us! Tom’s unique combination of Fine Art, Estate Management and Gardening background and in-depth knowledge of biodiversity and planting positions him to build innovative and creative solutions with us! Tom has introduced himself and answered some questions on his career before HS and during his study/work with us below: My name is Tom Stephenson; I am from Whitley Bay in northeast ..read more

With more people moving to urban areas every year, cities need to be at the centre of sustainable development. How can we make this happen? Paris – Martin Luther King Park For most of us, the subject of sustainability has become an integral part of our vocabulary. Whether it concerns our food preferences or how we commute to work, we are encouraged to consider how our actions and choices impact not only local, but also regional, national and global ecosystems. Interestingly, the concept of cities being the key drivers for sustainable development is a relatively new one as it was only introduce ..read more

Yellow Rattle in meadow grasses On Sunday August 28th the HarrisonStevens team honoured one of our 10 year challenges to actively travel between Edinburgh and Glasgow on the canal network. This was a challenge set to us in 2020 to mark our tenth anniversary as a landscape architecture practise. Due to the pandemic and lockdown with all its restrictions and social distancing we were unable to complete this during 2020. We are delighted to now have the opportunity to complete it, using canoes, bikes, running, and walking as modes of travel. It is of course amazing timing to coincide with the 200 ..read more

We believe in a world in which businesses dream big, solve problems and create stories that inspire others to make a difference to their consumers, their communities and our planet.  As landscape architects, we have the skills needed to make meaningful impacts on some of the most important global challenges of our age. A good business measures its success by the value it gives and the impact it makes. At HarrisonStevens, we base our understanding of success on the concept of a triple bottom line where impact is categorised as social, environmental or financial. We like to summarise this a ..read more

Each year HarrisonStevens undertake a study tour. In the past this has included places such as Copenhagen, Milan and Berlin. This year, given the pandemic, we took the opportunity to look closer to home for a two-day study tour in Newcastle. With our recently completed public realm scheme at Newcastle Cathedral it seemed a perfect opportunity to celebrate this as a team and explore the city. We were able to break the journey down to Newcastle and spend the morning at the Alnwick Garden on a highly informative tour with the head gardener. We learnt about the evolution of the garden and insight ..read more

How do you connect cyclists and pedestrians with a derelict bridge, an unloved woodland and a rundown park on the edge of the Western Approach? With a lot of work over the last 7 years by our talented team supporting WSP, we have knitted together engineering problems, community concerns, and ecological opportunities to produce a plan that was granted planning permission March 2021. Now the fun starts as we aim to start grading, building and planting in Autumn 2021.   The focus on play and community activities for all ages alongside the cycle path allows this project to pack a punch above ..read more

The regeneration of Westside Plaza in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh has been completed on-site. A project first realised with the Wester Hailes Community Trust is an example of a site transformed through community interest and aspirations for a better future. An extensive consultation programme of events, schools’ visits and focused sessions led to an insight into what the local community felt about the existing space and what they wanted to see in the future. These aspirations became the key drivers for a programme of spaces and the design that has now been delivered by the City of Edinburgh Counc ..read more

Last month HarrisonStevens team had a fun day visiting three local High Streets as well as enjoying the wonderful weather. The team was split into pairs and each pair visited two sites from Stockbridge, Bruntsfield and Corstorphine, all high streets which feature as test studies for the Scottish Government’s 20minute neighbourhood programme. Prior to the trip, we were encouraged to do desk study – set the 15/20min circle based on distance and seek potentials for biodiversity and active travel in the three areas. The objective of the trip was to use the learning from our previous CPD ‘High Stre ..read more