Richard Sneesby Landscape Architects is a Registered Practice with the Landscape Institute. The practice is based in Cornwall and undertakes projects mainly in the South-West and nationally if there is a good fit between us and the project. Our work often bridges the gap between landscape architecture and garden design where we span a range of projects from large scale landscape planning and masterplanning, through commercial landscapes and larger estates to private domestic gardens.
Many of our projects involve designing and working within sensitive designated landscapes including National Landscapes (formerly AONBs), World Heritage Sites, with Listed Buildings and historic gardens. More recently we have focused upon designs for luxury hotels within historic settings as well as design for tourism and hospitality.
We are currently working on a large-scale healthcare environment including a hospice (IPU), a suite of elderly care homes and assisted living accommodation, all within an early 19th century historic landscape. In Cornwall we also work closely with planning consultants and landowners on a range of farm diversification schemes.
…very professional and focused on delivering high quality projects, often to tight deadlines.
APPROACH
A project starts with a unique story and each one is undertaken as a separate bespoke commission. We take each on its individual merits and avoid formulaic responses. Our approach is to connect people and build a team: Client to designer; designer to contractor; suppliers to design ethos; specialists to design concept. We take pride in taking an intellectual and considered approach to our decision making. We want everyone involved to feel part of the process, take pride in their role and to celebrate the results. This works for us and our clients and is a joyful experience.
Our proven track record means that you can be confident of a working relationship that is collaborative, creative and cost effective. Although most of our work comes through personal recommendation, we are always excited when an opportunity to work with a new team appears. Many clients engage us for repeat projects, and we have worked with some clients for over a decade.
Design is a social activity, and we ensure that everyone is involved throughout the process. Ideas are shared and interrogated, things change, better ideas emerge, the unpredictable often leads to the best solutions. Budgets inform a strategy from the outset. Smaller budgets do not mean poor design. Larger budgets open new opportunities, more ambitious design, faster impact and bespoke details.
Nature, the environment and creating sustainable places lies at the heart of our work. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean that we should. We avoid environmentally damaging materials and carry out environmental checks throughout the design process. New landscapes are living places, and we develop strategies which maximise existing resources, often re-using on-site assets in our work. We ensure that retained existing vegetation, the soil, wildlife, ecological systems and habitats are fully understood to ensure our places are healthy and remain so.
Our work recognises the current predictions on climate change, and we use plants and create plant communities which seek to be resilient in the future.
…His design work was fantastic with great attention to detail and he guided us through the whole process.
Our experts
“Richard was fantastic throughout this project. He has great attention to detail and handled the project with professionalism and a wealth of knowledge. The quality of his work was fantastic and he always kept to deadlines. This project was brand new to us but Richard put us at ease and we felt like we were in good hands.”
“We received an excellent design following a very productive dialogue about the project. Richard clearly has a wealth of experience and we were able to draw on his wisdom and talent to achieve our plan. He was very clear in advance about fees for each stage of work which allowed us to tailor our requirements.”
“Richard is a visionary landscape architect whose thoughtful approach has been integral to the success of our Ella’s Gardens project. His ability to seamlessly incorporate biophilic design principles into the plans has created a harmonious space where nature and care come together beautifully.”
I have worked with Richard Sneesby Landscape Architects over the past few years and found them to be very professional and focused on delivering high quality projects, often to tight deadlines. They work well within multi-disciplinary teams, drawing out ideas to develop landscape designs and planting recommendations.