Biographies
Frankie Wang
I was born in China in late 70’s. In my memory, it was a nice peaceful urban place.
I’ve been painting since I was 5 years old. On my summer holidays, I used pencils and brushes to portray the changes in my hometown. I was very good at mathmatics when I was in senior high school and enjoyed using my logical brain.
I was trained as an architect in Zhengzhou University at my hometown in 1996. After five years studying I became a building-sensitive and design- conscious professional. I spent a year working on practical housing and pubic space improvement in my hometown.
Five years ago when I first stood on the Gateshead millennium bridge over river Tyne, I suddenly realized I was about starting a new life on the other side of the world. After a year studying an MA in urban design, I had discovered and understood various cultures, people and city forms.
A passion for delivering great design led me through the last 2 years working as an urban designer in Robinson Landscape Design Ltd. and has afforded me the opportunity to share the experience with fantastic colleagues. We are like family members when dealing with exciting projects such as Newcastle Great Park and Newcastle City Library. I have improved my design skills quite a lot and was so glad that my 3D model work on both projects helped to develop the design.
After work I enjoy life in Newcastle. The famous ‘Toon Army’, trendy art shows in the Baltic and worldwide musical festivals bring the city to life. Newcastle is not the biggest name in Britain but it is the most fascinating one.
Everyone has a dream. Could I be another Edmund N.Bacon or Eliel Saarinen in future?
……Who knows?!
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Neil Morbey
I am originally from Plymouth, where I grew up in a small Devon suburb, with close links to the countryside and the sea. I have an affinity with the character and beauty of England: in the patchwork countryside, wild mountains, historic architectural cities and the endless coastline. Although I have traveled all over the world I always come back home.
I have surfed from an early age and I started rock climbing from the age of 18. I also enjoy gardening and I have a love for the arts. My interests combine nicely for me in Landscape Architecture. There is a huge breadth of knowledge and skills involved and so I worked in plant nurseries, landscape offices and volunteered on allotments to learn as much as I could during my studies at the University of Sheffield.
After completing my degree I worked in Southern California. My first practice experience provided the chance to design, manage projects, liaise with multiple disciplines and share my graphic and computer skills with others. I look forward to revisiting the office, my friends and the completed projects that I have worked on.
I have found through my work and studies that I have a strong interest in sustainability and in SUDS, especially when combined with an aesthetic appeal in public landscapes. I love to work with plants and on fine details in construction. I feel I still have a lot to learn about every aspect of landscape architecture, but I know I have a strong foundation and excellent ability in graphic presentation, sketching, computer aided design and 3D modeling.
During my post graduate diploma I worked in a groundwork practice where I designed and constructed varied projects. I also helped to develop a 3D landscape modeling software at the University.
In July 2007 I took a job with Robinson Landscape Design. They stood out of the field with a high level of design, interesting and varied projects and a friendly close-knit office. Newcastle has proved to be a fantastic city and Northumberland has some beautiful crags and towns, which keeps me happy!
As the office has recently had a turn around of staff, the new enthusiasm we have found is engaging us to reinvent and improve the way we do things. I feel connected to the future of the firm and I have the resources to improve my professional abilities as I work towards chartership.
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Nicola Biggin
Having been brought up on a small farming village on the edge of the Peak District I have always had an interest in the outdoors. This was fuelled by family holidays mostly spent walking in the more mountainous areas of Britain. This has given me an understanding of nature’s forces and how vegetation evolves and adapts to its climate. From an early age I was encouraged to take an interest in the wildlife encountered on walks, particularly in identifying wild flowers. From this I developed an interest in plant life which I carried on through working in a local garden centre.
Through my course at university I was able to gain a deeper understanding of species commonly used in the landscape industry as well as learning how to design usable spaces. I was also able to further my knowledge in rural issues through design modules and dissertation work. As an elective module I took the opportunity to volunteer with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers where I was able to learn how to build dry-stone walls, hedges, paths, willow structures and other techniques used in constructing habitats, mainly for their biodiversity value but also to encourage humans to take an interest in their environment. I also gained an understanding of 2 and 3-D CAD and Photoshop, although emphasis was more on hand drawn plans.
My Year Out position enabled me to build on my computer skills and pick up new skills, such as tree surveying. It also gave me a good understanding of how offices work and allowed me the opportunity of seeing a design I created, for Leeds University, being built. The company also employed me whilst I studied for my Post Graduate Diploma, furthering my experience in an office.
For my final year at university I continued with my learning into rural issues, choosing to design a site on the outskirts of York used for agricultural land and as a floodplain. I backed this up with a study into the biodiversity value of arable habitats. Working with York City Council I was able to research into the Green Flag Award and help them with a potential Green Flag Site in York, this gave me a good insight into the award and I was able to link my findings into my major design to aid my design development. I have decided to carry on and study for a Masters degree, which I am able to do whilst working as Robinson Landscape Design are very supportive of continued learning. This will be in the form of a dissertation project looking into how agriculture has altered the visual landscape of Britain, and how it is set to change in the future.
Since starting at Robinson Landscape Design I have been impressed with the scope of projects and with the friendliness of the company. I was instantly welcomed into the office and encouraged to have an input in the welfare and the marketing of the company.
I have had many hobbies over my life, learning to play instruments such as the clarinet and whistles, I have danced from an early age and recently took up climbing to compliment my walking. These have helped my creative skills and given me a confidence in myself as well as teaching me team skills and allowing me the opportunity to lead a dance team. I am also a well-dresser, helping out at my local church well in Derbyshire, progressing to designer and ‘head’ dresser a few years ago. Well-dressing gave me good knowledge in the seasonality of plants and good practice for leadership skills and delegating tasks to meet a strict deadline.
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Mazdak Z. Rohani
After working in Clouston associates in Sydney, PNAS in Paris as a landscape architect I was given the chance to become an active staff member of RLD and consequently try to make the world a better place…
I have great interest in dealing with urban fringes, city/country limits and generally all sorts of limits. As any landscape architect should, I have great concern in environmental issues and emerging practices such as lagooning and phytoremediation of contaminated soils and grounds.
Human flow is also one of my constant fascination (how do we make people transit where they are supposed to / keep them away from where they should not be and have them enjoy sensually the kinetics of their travels specially when a change of speed can occur.)
Beside my landscape architecture degree, I have a horticultural sciences one. The combination of the two different yet tightly linked fields allows me to design my landscape with a high sense of planting responsibility, by which I mean that in a given site we must use suitable plant material and put it in place in a sound manner. This might sound absurd and seem to be just common sense, but often time have I been struck by the array of plants chosen for a particular site and the way it has been planted (i.e. planting a bold cypress on top of a hill…)
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Tyne and Wear :: NE1 1PG :: Tel: 0191 230 4339 :: Fax: 0191 230 5509
info@robinsonlandscapedesign.co.uk | www.robinsonlandscapedesign.co.uk
