Meerkats

Becoming a Chartered Landscape Architect

For a professional Landscape Architect, gaining chartered status is a key milestone. In her second year of the ‘Pathway to Chartership’, Lucy, a graduate landscape architect who has been with us for 2 years, is in a good position to explain what this means and reflect on her experience.

A Chartered Landscape Architect is required to demonstrate a high level of competency and commitment to Landscape Architecture. The process of becoming Chartered is carried out through the Landscape Institute (LI) and is called the ‘Pathway to Chartership’.

To embark on Pathway you must first be a Licentiate member of the LI.  To do this, your educational experience is taken into consideration and completion of an approved degree course is required. 

It is usual for a Landscape Architect to be working for an LI registered practice when embarking on Pathway as it is a mentored experience completed with the support of a Chartered Landscape Architect.

The structured syllabus is designed to develop the skills a Chartered Landscape Architect needs for their professional life.  Sections of the syllabus include professional conduct; professional duties and liabilities; professional appointment, professional relationships, practice management, the legal system, the planning system, environmental policies, environmental control, contract law and contract administration.
These subjects could be perceived to be ‘dry’ but when applying them to live projects and work in practice they can be fascinating and key to understanding the wider context of our work.

I have found Pathway an excellent stimulus to career progression and a helpful framework to work within.  The process is supportive with regular reviews with an internal mentor and an external Pathway supervisor.  I also attend study sessions with other Pathway candidates which allows us to share knowledge and experience. 

Typically the Pathway takes 2-3 years depending on your previous experience.  I’m approaching the final stage, an oral examination with the LI which confers Chartership status.  I will be required to demonstrate knowledge gained in addition to the skills in management and professional judgement.

The Pathway has opened my eyes to the breadth of knowledge and experience required to become a competent Landscape Architect, I would recommend it to any Landscape Architects who are considering becoming Chartered. 

New BS proposed to Help Protect Young Trees

Nurturing Nature: BS8545 Young Trees: From The Nursery Through To Independence In The Landscape: A Continuous Process

In 2008 the Government published Trees in Towns II – a follow up to the 1992 research on urban trees. Within the document was the statistic that, on average, 25% of young trees planted into the landscape fail. This was perhaps the spark which led to Keith Sacre (Sales Director at Barcham Trees) proposing that a new British Standard should be developed to help protect young trees and emphasise that the transition from the nursery into the landscape is a continuous process.

The scope for the new standard was proposed to The British Standards Institute (BSi) last year and the standard BS 8545 is now under consultation by a BSi committee.

Concentrating on nursery trees from 8-10 cm girth upwards, the standard is envisaged as a comprehensive flow chart beginning with the nursery production system through to independence in the landscape; the purpose being to highlight best practice for any particular methodology or production process. The proposed scope of the standard can be summarised as follows:

SECTION 1: Nursery Methods

• Impartially outline the advantages and disadvantages of current tree nursery production methods, describe best practice and introduce specifiable criteria for each.
• Expand upon specifiable morphological parameters/characteristics currently in use; introduce criteria for a nursery benchmark of tree health.

SECTION 2: Despatch and storage

•  Detail current best practice in despatching and transporting young trees
• Describe pre-transplant storage practices and the impact these have on transplanting success.

SECTION 3: Transplanting

• Identify current best practice and recommendations for transplanting, including support systems, tree pit design, structural soils and other backfill mediums.
• Consider the use of nutrient supplements and mychorrizal inoculations, when, how and of what value such supplements offer in enhancing transplanting success.

 SECTION 4: Post planting maintenance

• Review the use of mulches, post planting watering regimes and the impact of herbicide, competition, grass management and soil compaction.
• Define the use of plant health assessment, measured against a nursery benchmark, to evaluate and identify stresses post transplanting allowing remedial action to be taken early.

SECTION 5: Formative pruning

• Describe the aims and objectives of current best practice of formative pruning and how this relates back to nursery practice.

The proposed standard is to be aimed at all professionals involved in the process of handling young trees from the nursery into the landscape. The first stage in an ongoing consultation process has just been completed by many such professionals and considered why plants might fail. The results, together with future consultations will help inform the BSi committee and hopefully lead to the production of this good practice guidance ensuring that plant failures on schemes are reduced and young trees develop into well-formed, healthy specimens.

The Rise of BIM

The Building Information Modelling Working Party Strategy Paper was released by the Department for Business on the 20th June 2011 and outlines the Government’s strategy for capability in BIM to be a requirement for the procurement and delivery of all future public buildings by 2016.

BIM has increasingly although to varying extents been used by the construction industry for a number of years but the advent of the Government strategy will no doubt hasten its adoption as a more standard way of working across the board. However, the current lack of understanding and agreement as to what BIM actually is and how it should be used makes investing in the required technology and training a risk, but if companies don’t will they get left behind?

Paul Morrell the Government’s Chief Construction Advisor has suggested that small businesses do not need to panic (BIM Webinar June 2011); he has however also stated that companies should “adopt BIM or get betamaxed” (NBS BIM Roundtable Discussion May 2011). Hmmm which is it Mr Morrell?

Perhaps both; the analogy has been made with change-over from hand drawing to CAD in the 1980s/90s. There was both resistance and enthusiasm, whilst some companies were unwilling to adapt and were left behind, conversely there remain (admittedly usually small) companies who have doggedly stuck to hand drawing and have managed to survive. Most companies however adopted CAD, trained up their staff and moved with the times; albeit at varying speeds and using a variety of software. The adoption of the BIM process and technology will no doubt be similar, and perhaps we need to have faith that the industry will continue to use companies for their professional expertise not just their technical capacity.

BIM after all is not simply sophisticated technology, but a method of working, a collaborative process between all members of a project team. Suitable technology is required to enable effective implementation, but BIM is not only defined by drawing files; but by the way the people responsible for those drawing files choose to integrate them and use them.

The power of BIM is undoubtedly phenomenal, at its ultimate it is a single information laden database of all the elements required for a project through its entire lifecycle. At its heart is usually a 3D model which coordinates and visualises all these elements and enables outputs of different dimensions – 2d drawings, 3D visualisations, phase sequencing, cost estimates, carbon impact analysis, management plans – all of which can essentially be simultaneously produced or amended, vastly reducing the time and cost risk of late design changes, conflicts on site or simply producing specifications.

A fully integrated BIM though does raise legal, contractual and insurance issues. Who owns the actual BIM database, who is responsible for what and how can fair usage of data be assured? Some of these issues can be addressed with slight modifications to current collaborative NEC and JCT contracts that employ a shared approach to risk. As with any project the key is to ensure an accurate brief at the outset. Clients as well as suppliers need to be educated in what to expect from the BIM process with the brief reflecting the requirements and outputs for each stage from each consultant.

BIM is here and although it may be constantly reiterated that it is a process and not a tool, tools are required to implement it. Possibly though it may not strictly be necessary to rapidly invest in expensive hardware and software updates; with appropriate protocols and techniques in place, the more commonly used applications could be utilised to BIM standards, for smaller projects at least. However, as with the transfer to CAD, the uptake to dedicated BIM software is inevitable – the decision then becomes which one……

Wind Turbine Planning Consent

Moore Environment has helped secure planning permission for a 300kW wind turbine in Herefordshire, one of the first commercial scale machines to be proposed in the County.

The turbine would measure 66.7 metres to blade tip and the project also includes ancillary features - an access track, substation building and temporary wind monitoring mast. Herefordshire Council requested a full Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) to be carried out following concerns about the potential impact of the proposal on the landscape.

The LVIA was carried out in accordance with guidance published by the Landscape Institute (LI) and Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) and included:

·       interpretation of a 15 kilometre Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV) and 25 photomontage viewpoints

·         an assessment of alternative proposals considered

·         baseline survey of landscape character and environmental assets

·         an assessment of the sensitivity and capacity of the landscape to accommodate the proposed turbine and the identification of any significant effects, taking into account best practice guidance published by the Countryside Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage

·         a visual impact assessment for receptors including dwellings, communities, public rights of way, heritage features such as Scheduled Monuments and Parks and Gardens, and local roads

·         the development of a mitigation strategy including turbine colour, location and design of ancillary features and measures to restore and enhance local landscape character.

Extract from the Landscape Features and Visual Receptors Plan showing three stage ZTV, 2.5km radius, properties with and without views, photomontage viewpoints and heritage features

It is predicted that this turbine could generate enough electricity to supply 188 homes each year, contributing to the Herefordshire’s renewable energy targets.   

Whiting Landscapes and Manual for Streets Two

On Thursday 23^rd June Penny, Richard and Lucy from Moore Environment attended an evening hosted by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Construction Excellence (HAWCE) and Whiting Landscape.  The evening started with a tour of the impressive nursery facilities at Whiting Landscape.  This was followed by seminars from guest speakers including a presentation from Alan Young (WSP) titled ‘An Insiders Guide to Manual for Streets Two’. 

The ‘Manual for Streets Two - Wider Application of the Principles’ was published by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) on 29 September 2010. It builds on some of the principles set out in the first edition of Manual for Streets and provides guidance for designing streets in both urban and rural situations, beyond the residential setting. 

Key issues and principles included:-

·         Streets need to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists, not just motor vehicles.  A hierarchy should be used whereby pedestrians are considered first in the design process.

·         Streets can play an important role in providing places for social interaction, helping integrate communities.

·         Streets can vary massively in their context and standard highway design is not always appropriate.  A non-standard approach should be adopted whereby multidisciplinary teams design streets to suit their context.

·         There is a perception that increased vehicle visibility splays results in improved safety.  However, evidence suggests the opposite - increased visibility result in increased vehicle speed and more accidents.  Narrow, winding streets can force traffic to slow down.  One successful case study of this is Poundbury in Dorset where there have been no reported accidents for 12 years.

·         Streets where pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles share one surface can provide attractive, safe and sustainable environments where cars are forced to slow down to a more human pace. 

·         Good design should reflect pedestrian and cyclist desire lines.

·         Designs should be legible and inclusive of all ages and abilities.  Currently many streets are cluttered and confusing.  Removing street clutter such as unnecessary signage, bollards, railings and lightings can aid circulation and legibility.   

·         There is a trend in today’s society to be obsessive about risk and liability which can prevent innovative design.  A new type of audit is proposed whereby safety forms one component of the audit process, still of paramount importance, but not dominating the overall assessment of the scheme.

 

Saving Bee Orchids

This population of Bee Orchids has been taken from an inter-carriageway parcel of land on one of our highway projects.  Bee Orchids are not protected by legislation; however, the plant is site specific and occurs in one small area of the development site. As this area will be lost to construction we are attempting to safeguard the local population of Bee Orchids by carefully translocating them to a receptor site.

The Bee Orchids are currently being cared for by our ecological consultant’s, Middlemarch Environmental Ltd, whilst the receptor site is prepared.  Topsoil and seed collected from the donor site will also be translocated along with the Bee Orchids turves to aid continued colonisation.  The translocation of the topsoil is a critical part of the process as Bee Orchids live in symbiotic relationship with mycorrhiza (a soil-dwelling fungus