International recognition for the region and its talent

Vincent Woods co-organiser of Design North East discovers the down to earth approach at Glen Kemp Landscape Architects and Urban Designers.

When presented with a regeneration of not simply empty sites but sites that don’t even have soil then its time to think hard about your approach to Landscape Architecture Mike Glen, director of Glen Kemp, highlights the problems.

"In the North York Dales we had to make new soil from local rocks, paper mulch and nutrients, we couldn’t simply import soil from say Leicester as it would alter the ecological balance of the area. It’s not just that the soil may be the wrong type but it would contain non-indigenous seeds conflicting with existing natural vegetation and wildlife."

The environmental issues are a constant concern for the team at Glen Kemp.

"In an area of South East Northumberland our aim was to enrich the landscape. What was once poor quality farmland, then an open cast site, became a rich fertile area, with a developing natural habitat".

Expertise like this calls on a wide range of skills and Caroline Gettinby, who heads the ecology side, provides the skills a modern firm like this needs.

"We give advice on conservation and wildlife issues which came about from the 1981 Wildlife and Conservation Act and also on species protection; red squirrels, badgers, otters and newts etc. We have to design a comprehensive environmental solution, allowing a sustainable approach to development or change, " says Caroline.

The soil, the fauna, and wildlife are all in place, and the hydrologist has added their input, what then of buildings and people? Gerry Kemp, Co-Director of the company expands on some of their urban projects.

"The issues vary depending on whether its regeneration of an old site or something new and obviously its use. We have been working in the Caribbean, advising the local government there, on the establishment of eco-tourism and its role in sustainable economic development."

After declining my request for an on-site report of this Gerry gave me an example of projects closer to home….Nigeria.

"The government there asked us to look at designing a complete town from scratch for 150,000 people. They wanted us to design it around 3 and 4 storey housing. But we took a very broad view based on asking the right questions on the way in which they want to live. Basic ones, such as how they would cook a meal in the evening, considering that most of the time the electricity doesn’t work in Nigeria? If we had gone down the Nigerian government’s route I think the buildings would have burnt to the ground by now."

Gerry explained how these simple questions are crucial in any urban design wherever it is in the world. He told me that,

"If you can get people to work with your designs, live with your designs, and understand what you’ve done and why you’ve done it, it’s got a good chance of succeeding and improving with age."

The company has received a great list of awards for its work including the Lord Mayors Design award for Maplewood in Walkergate, National Garden Festival awards and the RIBA award for Aykley Heads Housing. The success of their broad approach to landscape architecture, planning and ecology has helped develop their portfolio of prestigious international work and locally throughout the North East region. Glen Kemp are looking to recruit again to expand its services within its base at Design Works in Gateshead and in its office in Scotland.

Glen Kemp can be contacted on: 0191 495 2495.

Historical Note:

A piece of Northumberland in every garden

Lancelot (Capability) Brown was born at Kirkharle, Northumberland in 1716 and educated at nearby Cambo, in the present village hall. Capability as he was referred to, because of his use of the word when referring to the landscape’s potential, established the ‘English style of garden’ based on his views of Northumberland. One of his best examples is at Blenheim Palace near Oxford blending garden design into the surrounding landscape, creating a natural beauty. This was in stark contrast to the formal French Gardens of earlier times and set the tone for landscapes in Britain up to the present day. He was also an accomplished architect and a forerunner to the approach modern landscape architects and companies like Glen Kemp have today.

The boss of "the regions, transport and the environment":

John Prescott writes in the foreword to the Government White Paper ‘Our towns and Cities’, "Our policies are based on engaging local people in a partnership for change designed to meet their needs". He adds "We will only achieve real sustainable change if local people are in the driving seat from the start, tailoring strategies to local needs…….We are working with professional bodies to help increase the number of people with design skills the country needs to drive this change."

Byker, with its radical development, though having had its fair share of troubles, is so lauded internationally that some want it to become a World Heritage Site. This would be great for the North East as we would end up with more heritage sites than Egypt. The creation of the plans, worked on mainly by local architects, planners and designers, was developed around the strong community spirit.

If the strong community spirit which we have here in the North East is utilised effectively then we should have some of the best urban living places in the country.

Career steps:

Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning, Environmental Management and Ecology are just some of the courses you may want to take to enable you to work for companies like Glen Kemp. It depends on how dirty you want to get your hands!

• MA in Landscape Architecture
• MA in Degree in Town Planning
  University of Newcastle
  Contact: 0191 222 6024
• MSC in Ecology (self funding)
  University of Durham
  Contact: 0191 374 3359
• BA (Hons) in Architectural & Urban Conservation
  University of Northumbria
  Contact: 0191 227 4386
• Environmental Science and Management (a range of courses)
  University of Sunderland
  Contact: Tel: 0191 515 3000

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This document is reproduced with he kind permission of The Journal and Benchmark Communications.