Landscape architect

You would design and create spaces for plants and wildlife to make towns and cities healthier and more attractive places to live.

You might work on public parks, green spaces in cities, housing developments or wildlife conservation areas. You’d be protecting the environment and supporting people’s health and wellbeing.

You’d use your creative skills, and your technical and scientific knowledge to plan and design the site. You’d organise the work to create the landscape.

You would:

• Meet with clients to discuss their needs
• Visit and survey the site to look at existing plant and animal life, and natural resources
• Get the views of local residents, businesses and other people who use the site
• Use computer-aided design (CAD) packages to draw up ideas for clients
• Present your design ideas to clients
• Draw up contracts and manage the tendering process for contractors
• Write reports and do environmental impact assessments
• Give evidence to public enquiries
• Monitor the progress of projects

There are five areas you could work in as a landscape architect:

• Landscape design
• Landscape management
• Landscape science
• Landscape planning
• Urban design

You might work across one or two of these areas or you may specialise in just one of them.

You will work closely with landscape contractors and other professionals such as architects, town planners, surveyors, civil engineers and environmental campaigners.