This is where we think out loud. Sketches, stories, questions and provocations. A living record of how we explore, imagine and evolve. From our latest design thinking to team moments, research and recruitment news, our Journal is a window into life in Outerspace: curious, collaborative and always in motion.
The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA), has created a number of challenges over the past few years, across all disciplines in the building industry. This blog reflects upon how we have had to adapt and the lessons we have learnt along the way.
Reflecting on how design decisions translate into built outcomes and the core values we champion at Outerspace – collaboration, clarity, adaptability, and a commitment to thoughtful, buildable landscapes – our latest blog explores the key lessons that contribute to effective and reliable landscape construction delivery.
With BNG at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds, recently there has been a push towards purely native planting, even across high-density urban sites. As landscape professionals, we must ask ourselves whether this is the right thing to do, both in terms of the communities who live within the sites we design, but also in terms of ecology - considering climate change and the long-term sustainability of the landscape.
Urban environments are often seen as lifeless expanses of concrete and steel, but this view misses a powerful truth; cities have the potential to become thriving ecosystems. Far from ecological deserts, urban areas can support rich biodiversity when thoughtfully designed and managed. Protecting biodiversity is not just about saving wildlife, it’s about preserving the systems that sustain all life, including our own.
In the race to meet planning policies, manage rising construction costs, and create striking buildings, the landscape in residential developments is often an afterthought. This blog looks at the value of putting landscape design first and how doing this can enrich the lives of the people who live within it every day.
What is it about the design of cities that inhibits children from roaming freely? And, if we design differently and create cities that are more child friendly, will such designs help all those who live in cities and not just our younger generation?
It is well-documented that public spaces often fail to meet the needs of teenage girls. This journal entry aims to explore the widespread perception among young women that public spaces are not welcoming, examine the importance of such spaces, and identify the frequent design flaws that contribute to their lack of inclusivity.
BIM2 is emerging as a cornerstone of our daily work, demanding attention and adaptation. In this blog I discuss my journey and the opportunity I saw to not only expand my knowledge, but also to explore new possibilities in our workflows.
As we emphasise the positive impact of inclusive play, it's essential to acknowledge the problems that arise when inclusivity is overlooked. Without inclusive play, we risk excluding some children, reinforcing stereotypes, and hindering the growth of empathy. This blog explores the issues that arise from the absence of inclusive play.
Green roofs are becoming increasingly popular because of the variety of benefits that they give to urban areas. This blog post explores the history of green roofs and looks at how they can help us better our future.
As we acknowledge World Alzheimer’s Day on the 21st September 2024, we at Outerspace have paused to reflect on our approach to our landscape designs when designing gardens and open spaces for people living with a variety of dementia diseases.
As a landscape designer, I've always been interested in play and how it encourages children to totally immerse themselves in the landscape. Now as a mum, the importance of play and its impact on children's development has been heightened further. Venetia Sturdy, Associate Landscape Architect, discusses Biophilic play.
Community gardens are widely recognised for their ability to provide green infrastructure in urban areas, create localised food networks, and support community development and cohesion. In recent years as a response to rapid urbanisation and climate change, community gardens have seen a resurgence in popularity
Over the past 20 years Outerspace has built up extensive experience consulting communities, stakeholders, local authorities and our clients. We have found that keeping landscape consultation separate from the overall developments allows communities to focus on something that should be really positive for them, and something that they can really buy into and take ownership of.
Forest Gardening is a multi-layered food production system that favours replicating woodland ecosystems in place of traditional agricultural methods. But is there a place for Forest Gardens in the urban realm?
Biodiversity Net Gain legislation, coming in to force on 12th February 2024, aims to reverse the loss of biodiversity witnessed over the past half century. In this article we explore this legislation and what it means to the both the city scape and the Landscape Architecture profession.
Is the pencil still a powerful tool in our industry? In this blog, we look into the value of sketching and provide some examples.
Bethan and Alex give a whistle stop summary of their key takeaways from Footprint + 2023, an annual event for the UK’s entire built environment industry to come together, knowledge share and make the contacts needed to achieve net zero.
The story of our creative journey: Studio’s, people, projects and philosophy
Achieving circularity in the built environment requires a paradigm shift away from the status quo. This article talks through why we need the circular economy, what the circular design principles are and the pathway to circularity.
This blog asks if there should be a greater focus towards landscape science training when Landscape Architects look to develop their careers.
Landscape professionals have been integral to the design and implementation of some of the world’s most iconic public spaces, from the English gardens of ‘Capability Brown’ to the Palace of Versailles by André Le Nôtre. Such successes are the result of a combination of creative vision and scientific knowledge
This blog looks at the different ways Landscape Architects use data collection in their work and some of the pros and cons we are face when using statistics to further the natural environment in an urban setting.
In this article we explain how we went about measuring and offsetting our Carbon Footprint
Discover why our human-nature design philosophy shapes urban spaces for both people and planet. Connecting humans with nature, nature with nature and humans with humans.
Moretown Gardens, St Katherine Docks Creating a Utopian work place for the twenty first century, where all the campus 'residents' feel equal, comfortable, calm, enriched, happy and connected to nature.
When the public parks movement started in the late 1800s, Victorian philanthropists sold them as new lungs for the city. Now the Covid-19 pandemic has us gasping for air in more ways than one.
About Greenwich Square Greenwich Square, developed by Hadley Mace and built by Mace Construction, creates a new community for east Greenwich. The £250 million project upon a 3 hectare brownfield site delivers 686 new mixed-tenure homes (50% affordable housing), a new community hub including a leisure centre, library, health centre, adult education college, reaurants and […]
As our ‘climax vegetation’, trees are one of the most precious natural resources in the UK. As Landscape Architects we can help protect trees in our urban environments by diversifying the tree populations we specify.
Yesterday was international Women's Day. In this blog Outerspace's female Landscape Architects talk about what it is about their profession that makes them tick.
Our Managing and creative director, Richard Broom has recently given a series of CPD talks about the importance of promoting human-nature in high density residential developments. Click through to gain a pre-view of the talk and learn how you could book a talk for your company.
The City of London has recently received a report that recommends the implementation of an Urban Greening Factor. In this blog Outerspace will discuss what this is and what this may mean for the Landscape Architecture industry and the people of London.
The UK has taken such a battering in February with Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis pounding us with heavy rains and wind. With so much grey sky, sunshine feels like it's a long way away. However Spring will arrive so much faster than you think. In our latest blog we discuss what you can do during February to make sure your garden is ready for the sunshine to arrive.
In recent years a renewed interest in the holistic needs of patients and their families has emerged with a growing body of research demonstrating that stress and psychosocial factors can significantly affect patient health outcomes. In this blog Outerspace discusses the impact that a well designed hospital garden can have on the patient experience.
The United Nations considers soil degradation one of the central threats to human health in the coming decades. Never has it been more important to manage soil well during construction. In this article Outerspace discusses how good soil management affects the health of both the planet and landscapes we design.
There is overwhelming evidence that getting children outdoors provides the best possible start in life, with greater amounts of natural space in or around living and learning environments being associated with higher levels of physical activity, better emotional, behavioural and cognitive outcomes. In this article Outerspace discuss the importance of placing children at the very heart urban design.
We are living through a period of rapid global urbanisation and the majority of our working and personal lives takes place in and around cities and large towns. At Outerspace we believe it is crucial for us to try and understand how we can contribute positively to the mental health of our stakeholders within these environments.
In this blog Alex reflects on his summer placement with Outerspace, what he has learned and what we were like to work with.
As Landscape Architects the team at Outerspace are all too aware of the impact high-density developments, lack of biodiversity and climate change has on our fragile ecosystem. In this article we discuss species at risk and how bio-diverse planting can make a difference.
Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are not a new concept but with environmental issues intensifying in our urban areas should we be doing more to integrate ‘Green’ SuDS into our developments?
The many benefits of cycling are no secret; from getting healthier and feeling good about yourself to saving money and avoiding the dreaded train commute, we could go on!
Outerpace has made a video of the planned park running through the latest phase of the Parkside development in Lewisham.
Demolition is getting underway for the final phases at Parkside Lewisham
Outerspace were delighted to win the Landscape Architect Practice under 20 staff award at the Pro-Landscaper Awards on Friday.
Planning was granted by unanimous vote yesterday evening for Parkside phase 5 & 6.
Outerspace were proud to sponsor Our Changing Nature event.
Outerspace were invited to the official opening of Blackfriars Circus, a mixed use commercial and residential development on Blackfriars Road.
BSI create new video on how the ISO accreditation helped Outerspace
Planning permission was granted yesterday for York Road, Maidenhead by the the Maidenhead Development Management Panel.
Five things Outerspace learned during our visit to Cambridge
Here at the Boathouse, we encourage all our staff to walk, cycle, run or get the bus to work.
Surprising image on Google earth of the Greenwich Square development shows what has been built so far and what we are currently working on.
Outerspace joined a full house at Plumstead Nursery on 24.01.18 for a day of talks on soft landscaping in Landscape Architecture
We are very excited to be working on this new vision for East Square in the heart of Basildon.
Sam Perry spent a sticky afternoon volunteering at the Bee Collective
Working with Barratt Homes for this scheme on Blackfriars Road, we can show the first pictures of the scheme progressing.
This high end Assisted Living scheme for McCarthy and Stone has just reached practical completion.
The new Almshouse building phase of the residential scheme for Crest Nicholson is now complete.
Outerspace went to Hampton Court Flower Show on Friday and saw some interesting gardens.
Magda Pelka went to Sheffield on 22nd June for a masterclass on Pictorial Meadows.
The Outerspace team had a great day out on Friday visiting local landscaping sites in Vauxhall.
