Tommy Clark

I studied landscape architecture at Edinburgh College of Art. The lecturers at the art school encourage all disciplines to develop a strong concept for each project that was often built around specific stories or the physical make up of a place. The school of landscape architecture used the same approach where responding to the unique qualities and history of each project site was critical.

I have continued this approach to landscape architecture in my professional life. I think it is important to have a strong driving concept at the beginning of the project, produce drawings that illustrate the concept, and ultimately deliver it physically on site. For this reason I aim to consider the construction process from the very start of the project to ensure ambitious ideas can be delivered at a later stage. Equally I aim to ensure that the original concept is not lost whilst detailing and delivering a project. I believe that if this approach is carried all the way the design process interesting, unique and characterful places are created.

At the Old Vinyl Factory we developed a design inspired by the sites incredible history as the EMI Factory, where gramophones were built and records pressed. The public realm is composed of a number of squares that hang of a pedestrian route called The Groove. Each square directly references a different aspect of the sites past weather that is through large gramophone sculptures, or surface material patterns that reference the design of vinyl records.

At Preston Barracks we designed a landscape proposal that referenced the nearby South Downs. The textured grasses that are found on these landscapes rolling hills inspired our planting palette. The rough footpaths made of chalk and flint informed our material selection. Illustrations that depict the stories of the South Downs social history have been integrated into large stone pavers.

Recently I have become particularly interested in waterscapes. As our climates become more extreme water is one of the greatest challenges our society will face in the future. I am interested in how we can holistically integrate water within every project, particularly in an urban setting and how we can harness its immense potential as a thing of play, reflection, biodiversity and sustainability.