We are moving to a time when every project has a seat for the planet at the board table. But is there enough understanding of the difference that seat should make? LDA Design has been looking at what building sustainably actually means, and how you define and secure positive outcomes. Most recently, looking through the lens of environmental impact assessment as a design tool as we guest edited the latest issue of the Outlook Journal of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has always had a guiding role in the planning process for proj ..read more

Higher education can be the stepping-stone to a better life, but it still remains relatively exclusive. For too many people it is hard to access, then once you are in, hard to feel accepted. Every student wants to feel a sense of belonging and connection, including to nature. We believe that ‘place’ is central to breaking down barriers. For this bursary, LDA Design’s fifth, the challenge is to imagine how the place where you learn could change to be more inviting, supportive, and equitable. Education holds the key to addressing the greatest challenges facing humanity and the natural world, and ..read more

LDA Design has been selected for Homes England’s new four-year technical services framework as one of ten companies chosen to provide placemaking, masterplanning and design services, including town planning and environmental leadership. The £200m framework, Homes England’s largest, seeks to drive quality in placemaking through a new Lot which will provide easy access to specialists delivering well-designed, sustainable, low-carbon communities, including urban designers, landscape architects, ecologists, planners, and community engagement specialists. Barry Cummins, Chief Development Officer at ..read more

Homes England has appointed Atkins, LDA Design and Levitt Bernstein to deliver planning and design services for a sustainable new development for Warwickshire. The project is one of the largest for the government agency in the region. The scheme will contribute 2,000 new homes, including affordable, to meet local housing need as part of the larger South West Rugby Urban Extension. It will also provide inclusive, nature-rich green spaces and play areas; community uses; healthcare; new schools; retail and improved infrastructure that supports the wider neighbourhood. Contextual plan for new H ..read more

Two artificial nesting structures for kittiwake have been approved in Hartlepool after a planning inspector was satisfied that they would not restrict economic activity at Hartlepool Port or adversely affect the character, local amenity or appearance of the area. Once constructed, Hornsea Three will be the UK’s largest offshore wind farm project. Renewable energy company Orsted are required to construct artificial nesting structures (ANS) for black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa Tridactyla) to compensate against its impact, as part of the Development Consent Order (DCO). The new structures in ..read more

As an employee-owned consultancy, but any business really, success rests on the shoulders of incredible people. Today, we say thank you to some who have contributed so much to what we do and to life at LDA Design. A huge amount of work has gone into each career milestone reached and the commitment, clear-sightedness, creativity, warmth and all-round smarts shown by Andrei, Andrew, Barbara, Beth, Catherine, Florence, Francisco, Greg, Jakub, John, MacDara, Margaret, Marina, Matt, Max, Naomi, Nick, Rhiannon, Rory, Sarah and Stuart is something to behold. From new reservoirs to improve water resil ..read more

“It’s people that make the difference. Once you start to take traffic out of streets, people start to see how all streets could be different. They start to see them as places they could hang out.” That’s how Ben Walker, director at LDA Design and studio lead for London, summed up LDA’s first people approach to making  places that are welcoming, sustainable and nature rich. For Ben, that list of places he’s helped shape includes Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Battersea Power Station. Ben was joined by landscape architect Naomi Rosser, urban designer Sarah Touzeau and director Cannon Iv ..read more