Steven T Dawson CMLILandscape ArchitectGolf Course ArchitectProject Management

M : 07879 485 662E : steventdawson@hotmail.co.uk

Project Portfolio• Parks & Public Realm• Private Residencies• Sports & Leisure• Sports Stadia & Acadamies• Commercial & Retail• Education

PARKS & PUBLIC REALM

PRIVATE RESIDENCIES

STANLEY PARK, LIVERPOOL

Stanley Park is a 45ha listed park, designed by Edward Kemp and opened in 1870. It is significant among Liverpools parks due to its layout and architecture, containing grand terraces with expansive bedding schemes and highlighted by fountains. It also includes the 1899 Gladstone Conservatory. Steven worked closely with LCC, LFC and English Heritage and played a pivotal role in its restoration including extensive replanting, bringing redundant lakes back to life, restoration of the old footpath network. Post restoration works the park achieved green flag status.

LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL GARDEN FESTIVAL

The International Garden Festival was originally open from May to October 1984. It was the first such event held in Britain and became the model for several others in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. After the initial success it went through a series of failed leisure projects, ultimately being purchased by NW Developers Langtree who with the assistance of the North West Development Agency restored and redeveloped the “gardens” element of the festival site. Steven managed the design team working closely with all the funding and local stakeholders including the local Chinese and Japanese communities in the restoration of their gardens and was novated to the contractor ensuring compliant delivery of the works.

FURROWS LINEAR PARK, MANCHESTER

Furrows linear park, was designed to add value to housing land in this deprived part of northern Manchester. Working closely with adjacent land owners, schools and residents the design was formulated to ensure the park linked all adjacent areas and provide further connectivity by acting as a hub within the local cycle network.Pre cut blocks of granite were imported from China to provide the dwarf retaining walls to the grass tables, where the local community could have pick nicks or hold events. Steven managed the design team and was responsible for the parks implementation.

LEYTON JUBILEE PARK, LEYTONSTONE

Leyton Jubilee Park is Leytonstone’s largest park and a major outdoor sporting hub for the borough with mini and junior football pitches, basket ball court, brand new changing pavilion together with bespoke informal play, structures and wild flower planting areas.The redevelopment of the park required great care and diligence due to underlying contaminated ground and its continued use. Steven acted as Clerk of Works on behalf of Kinnear Landscapes the projects designers.

BATTERSEA PARK, PEACE PAGODA

In 1984 The Reverend Gyoro Nagase assisted by 50 volunteers and Buddhist monks and nuns of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order came to London to construct the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park, which was completed the following year.One of Stevens first jobs at the GLC was to develop, design and monitor the external works linking the pagoda to the park and to liaise with the monks and the leaders of the GLC.

THE PINES, FORMBY

Steven has been working for this private client for a decade, originally involved in designing and delivering a bespoke contemporary design for the rear gardens which are attached to an uber modern glass extension that sits behind the original victorian villa. Whilst the frontage and driveway reflect the originally house’s victorian origins.The gardens have been developed sympathetically to the locality, it sits close to Formby beach and the red squirrel population plus providing large areas of external entertaining areas and the familys desire for privacy. They work in unison with state of the art security systems.

MOBBERLEY OLD HALL, CHESHIRE

Parts of this beautiful residence date from the 17th Century, the most obvious of which within the gardens is the remnants of a moat. This has been restored and brought back to life with aeration systems and fish life. Else where a maze has been introduced, manicured lawns, extensive herbaceous perennial beds, a bridge over the moat to connect gardens to the house and large wildflower meadows on the approach to the house.A large courtyard has been created within the stables to connect the converted stables to the original house. The redevelopment of the external areas took place over a number of years with Steven taking responsibility for management of the design team and implementation of the works.

VICTORIA ROAD, FORMBY

Less is more on this project the careful siting of a leisure suite within the gardens and sitting within established trees required careful planning and negotiations with the local authority due to the profile of the client. The building sits within existing lawns but has reflecting pools running right upto it on two sides, an entertaining area and astro golf green on the other sides.Careful development of the design and its implementation of the works was required to maintain the clients privacy and security. To the front of the main house a driveway and landscaped areas were introduced. Throughout the gardens and around the house a bespoke lighting scheme was developed and implemented.

BLYTHE HALL, LANCASHIRE

Blythe Hall is a large grade II listed country house, it was probably built in the late 16th Century or early 17th Century and has extensive grounds. The client comprehensively redeveloped the gardens, the main drivers being providing a sympathetic setting for the house and leisure opportunities for the family, friends and to accommodate major charity events.Large lawns with mature tree planting were introduced with formal water bodies. A sunken 5 aside astro pitch with terraced seating, together with tennis courts and peripheral privacy planting were introduced. Existing ponds were drained regraded with filter beds introduced. A gallops and helicopter landing pad completed the works.

THE QUADRANGLE, MANCHESTER

On the 2nd floor of this development in the centre of Manchester a podium garden was created, containing a large water feature, bespoke seating and lighting with surrounding beds of flowering evergreens. On the top floors a number of external entertaining areas were created for the penthouses.In both cases the challenges were technical and logistical. The podium garden had to float above the existing waterproofed slab, which had to be carefully penetrated to connect the water feature to the sub basement plant room. As with the penthouses materials could not be delivered by crane and innovative solutions had to be created and utilised whilst surrounding spaces were being lived in. Close co operation between all stake holders ensured successful delivery of the works whilst not affecting the quality of life of those living “next door”.

Steven T Dawson

SPORT & LEISURE

SPORTS STADIA & TRAINING COMPLEXES

THE CARRICK, LOCH LOMOND, SCOTLAND

Whilst working with his father Patrick a golf course architect and landscape architect, Steven also acted in both roles on this exceptional course that sits on the banks of Loch Lomond. The course sits within Scotlands first National Park, the new Par 71 course follows a traditional heathland style, straddling rolling lowlands and the highlands of Scotland. Great emphasis was placed on producing a development with a net ecological gain, this was achieved through detailed ecological survey’s and working closely with the resident ecologist, statutory bodies and maintaining a site presence. A large clubhouse and timeshare units were also developed around the course and with great sympathy to the existing landscape.

THE RIDGE GOLF CLUB, KENT

Steven was responsible for the golf course architecture and landscape architecture for the project and was resident on site throughout the construction in a design/ construction management role. This parkland course receives much acclaim due in large part the mature apple orchards that it sits within, the site was previously a redundant apple farm. The orchards and their poplar shelter belts provide an instant wooded back drop to the course and have been brought into production where viable blocks exist.New lakes were created as for both visual benefit and to provide reservoirs for the course irrigation. Making the course self sufficient in terms of irrigation, which was essential for its financial viability.

CAMERON HOUSE, LOCH LOMOND

Cameron House Hotel and Golf Course is a world renowned five star leisure complex on the banks of Loch Lomond, within the National Park. With a historical hotel, luxury time share lodges. Additional leisure activities include fishing, shooting and walks. Whilst working at Tyton Design Steven lead the team that carried out detailed environmental and historical audits of the estate. This base line information was used to inform the redevelopment proposals, comprising time share lodges sat within the protected landscape, alterations to the golf course and a golf teaching facility within the walls of the old kitchen gardens.

SLALEY HALL, NORTHUMBERLAND

Slaley Hall in Northumberland is an Edwardian Mansion surrounded by 1000 acres of moorland and forest. The estate contains a world class championship golf course, time share lodges and can offer a number of outward bounds pursuits such as quad biking, off road driving and clay pigeon shooting.Whilst owned by De Vere Steven acted as consultant landscape architect working closely with the architects and client to individually locate new time share lodges within existing protected moorlands and woodlands. Great sensitivity was required to protect the landscape fabric by site selection and monitoring on site.

NORMANTON GOLF CLUB, WAKEFIELD

Normanton GC is located approximately 1 mile from Wakefield. Its tranquillity is breath taking. Accessed via a long tree lined drive the views open upto reveal the majestic 18th Century Hall.Steven acted a gold course architect, landscape architect and site manager for the construction of the course. The works had to accommodate capped mine shafts and in close consultation with the adjacent nature reserve. Extensive water features were created to provide additional habitats for bird life from the adjacent the nature reserve, which proved such a success that the swans decamped to the golf course water features.

LIVERPOOL FC, NEW STADIUM (AFL / HKS)

The proposals for the creation of a new stadium for LFC were intrinsically linked to the restoration of Stanley Park, as the new stadium was to be located to the margins of the park and the club being one of the funders for the works. Steven acted as a link between both projects and managed Planit’s design team for the external works element of the stadium package.Great emphasis was placed upon accessibility for all, security and sustainability. Whilst the stadium package was never realised it was a great education, created lasting professional relationships with a wide range of specialist sub consultants and led to Steven being part of the successful bid team for Planit on the current redevelopment of Anfield.

ST.HELENS RFL, LANGTREE PARK

Langtree Developments have long been a client of Stevens and introduced Steven in the latter stages of the stadiums construction to upgrade the proposed external works.Extensive semi mature tree planting was introduced to reflect the scale of the stadium with supporting soft finishes designed to reflect the colour of the team and the need to maintain visual orientation with entry / exit points of the stadium. As with the Anfield proposals counter terrorism measures were essential but were down played with the use of level changes and gabion retaining walls. The landscape to the adjacent Tesco Super Store was also upgraded and original glass works facility retained. Crushed recycled glass provided highlights within the external works and linkage back to sites original use.

SALFORD CITY REDS, MANCHESTER

Again Steven was brought in towards the end of the construction project to evaluate the current proposals and upgrade them in a manner sympathetic to crowd control and a very high water table.Robust solutions were introduced to reduce maintenance costs and enhance viability of planting and parking areas. Working closely with the maintenance team these goals were achieved and are still proving successful.

CHELSEA FC, COBHAM TRAINING COMPLEX

Cobham is Chelsea FC’s non match day base and training complex for all levels within the club from junior teams to the first team squad. The brief was to provide instant privacy initially for the first team squad training pitches, upgrade the immediate environs to the main building and to design a formal lake that acted as a reservoir for the pitches irrigation. Steven worked direct to the main board on behalf of Planit-ie.A week was spent in Germany selecting almost 200 semi mature trees some upto 80cm in girth, the trees were planted above pitch level to avoid undersoil heating, fibre optics and irrigation systems. To this end bespoke sub soil and top soil mixes were produced to plant the trees on and in. A fully automatic irrigation system was installed providing water to each of the trees and thundreds of meters instant hedging.

MANCHESTER CITY, TRAINING VILLAGE

Through his work at Chelsea’s Training Complex and using his extensive knowledge of European supply chains, Steven assisted the design team providing details of preferred suppliers, costing the works as they were developed and making recommendations on viable design changes.He assisted in and monitored the technical side of the design and tender packages. Reviewed quotes and provided support to the design team throughout the design and tender process. Ultimately making site visits to review enabling works being carried out under difficult conditions, again supporting the project architect. This technically challenging project proved a complete success.

Steven T Dawson

COMMERCIAL & RETAIL

EDUCATION

SOUTH MIMMS MSA

South Mimms Motorway Service Area was the first to be constructed on the M25 at its intersection with the A1M. With construction completed in 1986 it was one of Steven’s first major projects whilst working for Kyle Stewart as they were then. (Now part of BAM).A full design service was provided to the construction arm as part of the design and build contract, with site monitoring and follow up monitoring of post construction maintenance. Emphasis was placed upon bringing the countryside into the development via extending native hedge lines into the extensive car park areas, combined with locally sourced tree planting. However subsequent studies have indicated that these hedgerows whilst providing habitats for native fauna also act as habitats and transit routes for vermin and are now discouraged.

NOVARTIS, GRIMSBY

Novartis commissioned Terra Firma to provide an upgrade to the external works and to monitor the installation. A sculptural centre piece by artist Michael Dan Archer was the focal point. Steven was retained by Terra Firma to provide the design and act on site on their behalf. This exposed site on the edge of the north sea proved a challenge as did accommodating the restrictions of a protected technically advanced manufacturing facility. Visits to German nurseries provided suitably robust pines and hedging material and by embedding himself within the Novartis FM team a mutually beneficial working relationship was created. The works were delivered smoothly and on time and were well received by the Main Board of Novartis.

NEW BRIGHTON DEVELOPMENT, WIRRAL

This retail and leisure development sits immediately adjacent to the sea wall and is allegedly the second most windest foreshore in western Europe. This location has created one of the most difficult environments within which to establish plant life. Through his work at Planit on the project and latterly direct to the client and working closely with Tim O’Hare Associates Steven has developed a plant palette that is able to withstand the prevailing conditions. The complete site was flooded in 2013 when the sea breached the flood defences, this required extensive testing of retained soil and the introduction of bespoke soil mixes designed to allow reduced retention of salt and the successful establishment of selected grasses.

DARESBURY, SCI-TECH CAMPUS

Sci-Tech Daresbury is one of two National Science and Innovation Campuses established in 2006. In 2010 a new JV involving Langtree Developments was formed to develop and promote the campus. As part of these works upgrades to highways and peripheral landscaping was proposed and implemented. Due to the nature of the site these works required considerable planning and close liaison with site facilities management, Steven provided this role and monitored the site works. Buildings had to be demolished, involving bat survey’s and piecemeal works so that sensitive monitoring equipment within the site was not disturbed. The works are ongoing and should provide a campus all can be proud of.

NORTH WALES BUSINESS PARK, ABERGELE

North Wales Business Park, lies on the edge of Abergele approximately 300m from the shoreline. As with the New Brighton project this has created unique conditions to establish plant life in. Through trialing various plant mixes a successful palette was developed and rolled out as the site is developed. Subsoils are largely clay again providing challenging conditions when trying to establish plants and trees. To aid site drainage a network of swales was developed, draining into a central water feature that provided a number of functions, ie a water feature with fountain (for aeration), drainage and wildlife habitat. Extensive aquatic planting and careful selection of marginal treatments have overcome changes in water levels.

CRAWLEY SCHOOLS, WEST SUSSEX

BAM retained Steven as a landscape consultant on this major PFI project to provide a number of secondary schools and a junior school. The site was originally agricultural land adjacent to a new housing estate, it contained a number of mature specimen trees that had to be retained requiring careful level solutions in order to maintain level access to classrooms.The development of the design required extensive consultation with the educational authorities and local authority ecologists and tree officers. Extensive sports facilities were provided within the constraints of the site levels and existing vegetation.The project successfully passed CABE reviews and is still standing the tests of time.

FAIRWAYS PRIMARY SCHOOL, BARNET

Fairway Primary School is a community school, situated in the NW of the Borough of Barnet, near the A1 and adjacent to Mill Hill Golf Course. Designed by ACP Architects, the design of the building itself and most importantly its interface with a restricted sloping site required careful consideration of site levels. This manifested its self dramatically when external class rooms and play areas were being designed. Also located centrally to the building is a mature oak which had to be retained.Extensive gabion retaining walls were introduced to accommodate the constant falls across the site. These combined with an environmental green roof and timber cladding to the building have softened the building mass within the green belt allowing it to ‘nestle” into the site. The perimeter woodland belt was carefully retained and an ecological teaching area with ponds introduced.

MEDLOCK PRIMARY SCHOOL, MANCHESTER

Medlock Primary School was approximately five years old when the Governors provided funds to create and upgrade the external classrooms and play areas. After extensive consultation with the teachers and governors it was agreed to introduce an acoustic bund to reduce traffic noise and to provide a spine to hang the additional facilities off.A small astro kick about area with shooting wall was introduced, climbing nets, extensive areas of safety surfacing, brightly coloured soft play domes, activity trail and kitchen garden in raised planters were constructed. The main sports pitch was drained and perimeter planting introduced, the children were introduced to the construction and allowed to watch works progress and comment on what they saw develop on a daily basis. Projects involved material selection, colours and the various elements were put together.

ST.CATHERINES ACADEMY, BOLTON

The redevelopment of St.Catherines Academy proved a challenge on a steeply sloping exposed hill side in Bolton. To overcome this challenge extensive extensive runs of gabion retaining walls were introduced with belts of native woodland planting designed to reduce their scale up against them, large swathes of bespoke wildflower seeding wrapped around these belts to create a graduated natural feel.The changes in level and the heavy clay created challenges for the planting, to mitigate this an extensive field drainage system was introduced and connected to the local network.With a large special needs facility the provision of safe and secure external classrooms also had to be accommodated within the sloping site, this was successfully achieved by careful fencing selections and hedging. Sports pitches had to be terraced onto the existing hill sides.

Steven T Dawson

FIELDEN CAMPUS, MANCHESTER

Two years after being mothballed the campus was re-opened with a £9m refurbishment. Whilst the bulk of the funding was spent on the refurbishment of classrooms, a learning response centre and even an air crew training facility.The external areas were critical to the overall ambience of the facility and pedestrian movement between buildings. New external teaching and chill out areas were created, others upgraded and a conservation area leading to the River Mersey were created. The impact of these external upgrades has been to provide a relaxed but truly functional environment which the lecturers and students respect and utilise throughout the year.

Steven T Dawson CMLILandscape ArchitectGolf Course ArchitectProject Management

M : 07879 485 662E : steventdawson@hotmail.co.uk