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Heritage, townscape, landscape and VIA: A collaborative approach

As we continue to celebrate 10 years of our Heritage & Townscape team, Director and Head of Landscape and VIA, Joanna Ede discusses the link between heritage, townscape, landscape and VIA, and how the services work together.

Although a landscape and townscape consultant and not a heritage professional, I am very pleased to be part of the team and will happily raise my glass and join a virtual toast to celebrate this milestone.

I joined the team three years ago, after 20 years as a landscape and townscape consultant in a practice of landscape architects and landscape planners. When I joined it was clear that there was a real synergy in the way my heritage colleagues approached a project and the way I viewed it as a landscape architect and urban design practitioner. Not surprising, perhaps, since we are all interested in the character and appearance of a place, seeking to understand what is important about it and what should be preserved when we are trying to accommodate change. But we also have big differences. Our training and education are very different, we are overseen by different professional institutes, and we are guided by a different methodology and guidance.  

The differences are manifested in the detail and perspective we each bring to a project. I am constantly amazed by the depth of knowledge of my heritage colleagues. Whether it is the finer points of Edwardian skirting board details or stained glass window detailing of medieval churches, there is always someone in the team with a passion and specialist knowledge. They step in, providing guidance and insight for clients, advising on how the historic environment can support new development and often showing how ‘the old’ can give meaning to ‘the new’. Of course, I am not the intended recipient or audience for all of this, but I confess to being fascinated by the information they unearth and the knowledge and insight that they bring.

Whilst my heritage colleagues focus on interpreting the historical perspective of a site, my role is to consider the significance of a site as part of a townscape or landscape. I do look at the historical development of a site, but I also look at its current day characteristics and qualities. I try to bring sense to the patterns of a whole host of things including movements, land uses, topography, vegetation, spatial and sensory qualities, built form, and the aesthetic and scenic qualities of how all of these are experienced together in views. Project experience has been varied, with recent projects we have advised on including: a 48 storey tower in central Birmingham; a residential development on the edge of the North Wessex Downs AONB; and a new mixed-use neighbourhood in Havering.

Since joining the team, myself and my colleagues have learnt a lot from each other. Our combined offer of heritage, townscape, landscape and visual impact assessment (or “HTLVIA” as it is snappily abbreviated) has a real strength to it and I look forward to the next ten years of our collaborative approach.

For more information on the work of our Heritage and Townscape service, please contact a member of the team.

8 February 2021