Architecture defines the skyline of our cities, but the ground plane belongs to landscape architecture. At John McAslan + Partners we consider them inseparable, which is why the practice has its own landscape architecture studio working alongside teams of architects. For more than 20 years, that has supported an integrated design process in which buildings, landscape and the public realm develop in tandem, from briefing through to delivery.
When we refer to a “joined-up approach” we mean more than collaboration between disciplines. Contemporary urban design must tackle complex challenges, from sustainability to social inclusion. It demands integrated thinking that reaches beyond site boundaries and across public and private domains.
The work of the studio is varied. Our projects include parks and urban gardens as well as green corridors that extend for miles through the city. What connects them are clear principles that guide every design.
The Burrell Collection, Glasgow
Public space works best when conceived with architecture. As a landscape studio embedded within an architectural practice, we design from facade to footway, shaping thresholds, materials, movement and environmental systems as one continuous whole. For our clients, this means clear accountability and reduced coordination risk during design and construction, as well as places with a strong, coherent identity.
That close integration is exemplified by our renovation of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. The original building was designed in a sensitive response to its setting in Pollok Park, with glazed galleries suggesting a ‘walk in the woods’. Landscape design – from tree care to reshaping the ground – was critical in preserving that intent and meeting the objective to make the most accessible fine and decorative arts museum in the world.
The Burrell Collection, Glasgow
Streets are the stages for urban life. They should put people first. We specialise in transforming complex urban environments where traffic, commerce, heritage and community intersect. Our approach rebalances movement toward pedestrian priority, embeds accessibility and inclusion within spatial design, and restores pleasure to everyday activity in public space.
The public realm has particular civic responsibilities. We understand the political, technical and stakeholder complexity of public projects, and design with phasing, implementation and long-term stewardship in mind. In private commissions, too, it is often through landscape design that new development makes a civic contribution.
Spaces at every scale can be remade for people. At Friends House, the home of the Quaker movement in Britain, a neglected garden adjoining a busy street has been reshaped into a calm and publicly accessible sanctuary, reflecting the movement’s welcoming ethos. In Doha, landscapes threaded through the Msheireb Heritage Quarter make gathering places from the courtyards and lanes of the district.
Sloane Street, London
Design for Enduring Value
Landscape changes with the seasons, and patterns of use shift over time. Every project, however, starts with a long view. The public realm must serve communities for generations, and our clients need public assets that are resilient, and designed with long-term stewardship in mind.
Our work prioritises both future adaptation and durable materials. We measure success not by how a space looks at completion, but by how it performs over time
Turning Sloane Street into a green boulevard through central London, we have reconfigured below-ground infrastructure to minimise future disruption to the landscape above, finished in Yorkstone, granite and brass that wear well and age gracefully.
Sloane Street, London
Sloane Street, London
George Square, Glasgow
Landscape design unites the built and natural environments. Ecological design is essential in responding to the climate and biodiversity crises at an urban scale. In our projects, sustainability is not an overlay; it is integrated in the structure of the place, and in the way public spaces are used and enjoyed.
In the ongoing transformation of George Square in Glasgow, the hard surfaces needed for public events are woven into a tapestry of blue-green infrastructure that manages water, supports wildlife and promotes active travel through the city.
At the heart of the studio’s work is the conviction that landscape is not a backdrop to buildings, but a potent carrier of identity and memory. Each project begins with the underlying spirit of its site, seeking opportunities to repair fragmented environments, reinterpret history and reconnect people with culture and community.
That close integration with place is evident in our headquarters campus for Max Mara in Emilia-Romagna. Buildings and landscape share the same organisational grid, derived from ancient patterns of agriculture in the region. Routes through design studios extend through the productive landscape in tree-lined avenues that project out into the countryside beyond.
All of these principles are important. Together, they describe a coherent approach to city-making, and shape places that are not only functional but memorable, inclusive and built to last.
Andy Harris is a director at JMP and leads the Landscape and Urban Design Studio; Kit Bullas is a landscape architect and associate director at JMP
