OOBE seeking growth in business with new move
With studios in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle, OOBE is at the forefront of landscape architecture, having spent the past 15 years shaping landscapes that connect people with outdoor spaces. The practice is widely recognised for its sustainability-led approach to landscape architecture, urban design, master planning and building information modelling (BIM) services. The firm has delivered some of the most significant and high-profile public realm and development schemes in the country.
OOBE's portfolio includes work on transformative regeneration schemes such as The Spark, The Lumen and Biosphere at Newcastle Helix, a dynamic urban campus landscape that integrates rain gardens and biodiverse planting with a steeply sloped topography. In the Midlands, the team is helping to shape the vision for New Garden Square in Edgbaston – a striking build-to-rent community developed with Moda Living and Calthorpe Estates. Elsewhere, the Barbara Hepworth Building at the University of Huddersfield exemplifies OOBE's approach to integrating academic architecture and landscape into a single design language, while projects like Littlehaven Promenade in South Shields underline its capacity to deliver elegant, resilient coastal infrastructure.
In Scotland, OOBE is currently delivering the landscape vision for Blindwells, a major new community in East Lothian. Commissioned by Hargreaves Land, the project spans everything from town centre design and routes to school, to woodland corridors, play areas and a dedicated art strategy. At its heart is a commitment to biodiversity, wellbeing and creating a place where people feel genuinely connected to their surroundings.
The team is also leading the green infrastructure at Holland Park in Glasgow, where a bold build-to-rent development is being brought to life with thoughtfully designed public realm and sustainable planting. Just along the Clyde at Pacific Quay, OOBE has helped shape a distinctive riverside space that blends amenity, ecology and local character. Most recently, the practice completed the landscape design for the new Woodmill and St Columba's RC High School campus in Dunfermline – the world's largest Passivhaus school project – integrating rain gardens, attenuation basins and outdoor teaching spaces. With a growing portfolio and established presence in Edinburgh, OOBE continues to help shape some of the most exciting new places across Scotland.
The appointment of Building Relations PR marks a strategic move for OOBE as it looks to further strengthen its position in the property and construction sectors, showcasing its award-winning design ethos, collaborative approach and unique approach to placemaking.
Speaking about the new partnership, Emma McNicholas, Director at OOBE, said: 'As we approach our 15th year in business and reflect on the outstanding projects we've delivered, we feel it's time to take the business to the next level. We're excited to be working with Building Relations to raise our profile, make new connections and share the impact of our work more broadly. We have a strong reputation amongst our current partners and a high rate of repeat business, which we are exceptionally proud of.
'Building Relation's specialist knowledge of the property sector combined with its sustainability expertise, makes them the ideal partner to help us help us tell our story and communicate the value of our design-led approach. '
Rachel Colgan, Founding Director at Building Relations, commented: 'OOBE has delivered an impressive portfolio of landscape projects that help shape the way people interact with outdoor spaces and there are so many brilliant stories for us to help them share. Our teams in Edinburgh and London are looking forward to supporting OOBE as they look to grow their successful business across the UK.'
www.oobe.co.uk
Like this:
Like
Related
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
24 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Nuno Borges says Wimbledon blocked Portugal shirt as tribute to Diogo Jota
Instead he wore a black ribbon pinned to his hat during Friday's third-round match against Karen Khachanov, but said his team had initially pushed for a more visible tribute. 'I know Wimbledon is usually not very flexible with attire,' Borges told the PA news agency. 'But I was told we could still do something to pay our respects for what happened, so I think it was a nice gesture. 'He was a great footballer. It was a tragedy.' Borges, who lost a five-set thriller, said his agent contacted Wimbledon about the idea of wearing a Portugal shirt, and even tried to source a white version to comply with dress rules, but it was not approved. 'We initially talked about getting a full jersey to walk on court,' he said. 'I even tried to find one in white, but it was turned down, so we ended up doing something a little smaller.' Asked if Wimbledon should have allowed the shirt, he said: 'I think that's what makes Wimbledon special and different from every other Slam, so I really don't know.' Wimbledon relaxed its 148-year-old dress code in light of Jota's death, allowing players to wear black ribbons or armbands. Borges was among several players who did, including fellow Portuguese doubles player Francisco Cabral. Cabral, who wore a ribbon on his shirt sleeve during a doubles match with Lucas Miedler, said: 'Yesterday the idea of wearing a black strap came up – that was not allowed. 'I asked for permission to use the black ribbon and they let me play with it.' He described it as 'an honour', adding: 'It was not for the best reason – he was an inspiration not only for me but for the country in general. 'He made so much in the sport and conquered so much in my life. If I helped 1% for the family I will be super happy.' Cabral and Miedler lost their second-round match in straight sets to Czech pair Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl. Wimbledon's dress code has long restricted visible colour on court, and tributes are rarely granted. The gesture marked a rare moment of flexibility from organisers, after the deaths of Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who were killed in Spain while travelling to catch a ferry to England. British doubles player and Liverpool fan Neal Skupski had also taken a black armband for his match on Thursday, but opted not to wear it after learning of the death of his grandmother shortly after coming off court. He said he may wear one 'in the next couple of days'.
Irish Independent
24 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Dónal Lynch: She supercharged Vogue and its Met Gala, but is Anna Wintour stepping down as editor really the end of an era?
Anna Wintour is stepping down as Vogue's editor-in-chief, which supposedly marks the end of an era.
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Charred chimneys are all that's left of these LA midcentury homes. Inside the quest to save them
By mid-morning last Thursday, Evan Hall was standing near the top of Monument Street in Los Angeles's Pacific Palisades, looking out over the Pacific Ocean. He was running out of time. Hall stood in the charred ruins of a 1953 home designed by the modernist architect Richard Neutra. Beside him, a handful of hard-hat-clad preservationists, masons and construction workers all looked up at the same thing: a chimney. It was all that remained of the home consumed by January's massive wildfires, and the reason they'd all gathered. For months, Hall and his team have been scrambling to salvage and relocate chimneys from several of the Palisades' architecturally and historically significant homes – a task that has been both logistically and financially formidable. Now, they were facing a 30 June deadline – set by the Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the post-fire cleanup – to finish this monumental task. Hall, an artist and founding director of the non-profit House Museum, had organized the group as part of Project Chimney, the preservation initiative he is spearheading. Hall himself had evacuated during the fire, and as he reeled in the days and weeks that followed it, the chimneys that dotted the burnt landscape moved him as symbols of the depth of the loss. Project Chimney aims to use them to create a memorial for the community, at an as-yet-unidentified site. The group is petitioning the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for a location, Hall said, and in the meantime the chimneys will be held in storage. 'Other organizations went through the grounds and said: 'Oh, there's nothing here, the structure's burned,'' Hall said. 'But nobody was looking for what could be salvaged.' Hall and his collaborators have been workshopping their process on the fly. First, they identified over 55 surviving historically significant chimneys, including some designed by architectural titans such as Neutra, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright Jr, Eric Lloyd Wright, Paul R Williams, and Ray Kappe. 'We began just kind of placing the images next to one another, trying to understand the different design sensibilities,' he said. 'And it was actually really beautiful and surprising to see the range and diversity.' They began reaching out to homeowners to ask if they'd be open to having their chimneys salvaged, and ultimately narrowed their list to seven. But raising the money has been challenging and slow, Hall said. On top of that the Army Corps – which has for the last six months been methodically cleaning the mangled, toxic waste left by the fires – accelerated the timeline to finish the cleanup. While the Corps has been supportive of Hall and his team's work, it also needs to finish its debris removal in the Palisades, and as of 26 June had given the group a deadline of 30 June to finish removing the chimneys. Major Matt Grussing, deputy commander of the Army Corps' emergency field office for the Palisades, has been coordinating with Hall and Project Chimney as the Corps nears the end of its debris removal work. 'We're trying to be as flexible as we can while still meeting our primary mission of ending the public health and safety emergency,' he said. Project Chimney successfully moved its first chimney, designed by Ray Kappe, at the end of May. The Neutra chimney on Monument was the second, and the group had scrambled to secure the funds and crew to make its relocation happen. Hall had no idea if he would be able to move the other five before the demolition crews rolled in. All around the house on Monument, lots had already been cleared, with flat, orderly dirt squares replacing the wreckage, and bent metal and ash the fire left in its wake. 1367 Monument's mess – shards of porcelain, bedsprings and a chimney – stood out even more in late June because of this. New plants were growing in the neighborhood, green mingling with the char. Over the crest down towards the ocean, the wooden scaffolding of new home construction was popping up, too. Andy Gerber, a mason and president of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 4, had come out to volunteer his time and expertise. He felt respect for the handiwork he saw as he and his colleagues chipped away at the mortar. 'It was all just built correctly, nice and plumb, flat, good lines, and the bond was good,' he said. 'I think just the stone itself is beautiful.' 'I've never done anything like this,' he added. 'I'm hopeful that it works.' Ean Frank, a preservationist, watched as the team prepped the chimney for removal. He had designed their process, which involved building a steel cage around the chimney itself and disassembling it in large pieces, in an effort to alter the chimney as little as possible. The group is 'trying to preserve the patina of the fire,' Frank said. Usually, he added, he would have months to plan for a project of this scale, plus substantial budgets to work with and manpower to support. The improvisation meant dealing with issues such as sandstone unexpectedly crumbling off the chimney's facade, as it was doing today, while the group prepared to move the first section, which Frank estimated weighed 7,000lbs. But he felt like he needed to be involved. 'The idea that the chimneys are the only thing that remains of these people's memories is incredibly profound,' Frank said. 'This disaster and the memories they have here won't just be paved over.' Lynn Fehr, 97, visited the site at Monument for the first time last week, as Project Chimney ramped up its work. She lived in the home for 65 years and raised her five children there. The house spoke to her on both emotional and architectural levels. She had become interested in Neutra after hearing his wife Dione speak at a University of California, Los Angeles, event, she said, and fell in love with his work's clean lines. She loved waking up early to look at the Santa Monica Bay and Palos Verdes and even sometimes Catalina Island in the distance from the bluff. As for the chimney project, she found it perplexing at first. 'I've never heard of chimneys being saved,' she said. But she liked the idea and agreed to it, even though she had no particular fondness for the fireplace. She hardly remembered using it beyond the first year she lived there, when everything felt shiny and new. It took her six months to finally come see the ruins. When she did, the chimney team was working. She brought two of her children with her for support, and told them to bring tissues for her. But when she arrived, something strange happened. 'I had no sense of loss,' she said. The house had served its purpose. 'We had a marvelous time living there. We enjoyed it while we had it,' she said. 'What can you do with something when you can't change anything?' A week later, past the deadline, Project Chimney had managed to relocate a third chimney. As of 3 July, the Army Corps still had about 75 of 4,000 clearance requests left in the Palisades, Major Grussing said. All of the chimneys on Hall's list were still standing. He was hopeful he could get to them in time.
