Thomas baxter landscape architecture portfolio

Thomas Baxter

Thank you Finally‌ I believe I have included work which shows off my greatest architectural strengths and abilities, however, I believe my passion for the creative landscape is best demonstrate on a personal level.

Thank you for taking the time to review my portfolio and consider my application.

In This Book All work in this book, is done by myself Thomas Baxter, completed either in university or though my work experience time at Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale Photography and sketches I have captured, have been whilst on local walks and are generally things that have interested me outside in the natural environment.

Thomas Baxter 22 Sude Hill, New Mill, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire Tel: 07969090379 Email: Thomasanthonybaxter@gmail.com

Thomas Baxter Landscape Architecture Portfolio

Thomas Baxter

Thomas Baxter 22 Sude Hill, New Mill, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire Tel: 07969090379 Email: Thomasanthonybaxter@gmail.com

Thomas Baxter Landscape Architecture Portfolio

Contents Who is Thomas Baxter

2-3

University Work Leeds Met Rose Bowl Lake District, Trover Common

4-5 6-7

Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale Work Experience Hopwood Hall College Mandale Park Other Work Photography Scape Sketches Resume/CV

10-11 12-13 14-17 18-19 20

Who Is Thomas Baxter?

I am a Landscape Architecture Graduate, actively working towards gaining my Post Graduate and Masters Qualifications, and moving forward towards becoming a chartered Landscape Architect.

My key interests are gardening and photography, which I practice everyday. I try to take elements from my key interest’s and implement them into my designs, creating a strong floral presences which catch the eye of the viewer and draw them into the site.

I am a person who is passionate about everything outdoors and, creating a link with people and nature, is key to my designs.

Rose Bowl The design brief was to create an outdoor site, which could be enjoyed by students and members of the public alike. The client required that the area be designed using primarily hard landscaping. As well as this, all existing trees had to remain unaltered.

The concept of the design was essentially to reflect it’s past uses, which was a car park. My inspiration was ‘reclaim, reuse and recycle’, to create a place where people could come be inspired or collect thoughts.

Lake District, Trover Common The vision was to create a holiday community in an area of forestry and moorland in the lake district.

A juxtaposition of extreme sports activities and peaceful countryside walks, will attract visitors/ campers looking for either an adventurous or peaceful time away. Having a dual purpose holiday community would be extremely beneficial because a higher demographic of holiday seekers could be targeted, as opposed to focusing solely on one market.

This would boost income for local businesses in the area.

Hopwood Hall College -Design a derelict part of the college into a working agricultural and horticulture unit.

-Design animal housing units such as a Meerkat Manor, Cattery, Dog Kennels and other common farm animal housing units.

Design Brief -Review pedestrian routes and upgrade to allow for vehicle use, giving easier access to and from the college.

- Review stairwells and raised beds -Create a master plan of the whole college, create detailed drawings for certain parts of the sites

Mandale Park Vision: A safe, inviting and easily accessible open space, providing diverse habitats within an area of interesting landscape features, to encourage public use and enjoyment of the site.

Design Brief: - Ensure the site is safe, inviting and accessible to all users.

- Improve habitat value of the site so that it can be designated as a local nature reserve.

- Improve the quality and range of facilities - Improve landscape interest.

- Engage the range of local communities with Mandale Nature Park and the wider countryside.

Landscape Photography Photography is one of the most popular and influential visual mediums in the world. the famous quote “A picture speaks a thousand words�. helps you to get your point across fast and creatively with out losing the concentration of the reader

Scape Scetches My other passion in life is sketching, I regularly practice this skill with quick sketches of the landscape.

Sketching quickly helps me to focus on the key elements to get my point across visually. Sketching like this builds my hand drawing confidence which I can implement into my design’s. This makes me a better, more flexible landscape architect.

I believe sketching allows me to gain a better feel for a site, and form a better connection with a landscape than merely making notes. Here are just a few sketches which helped me with my design process.

Professional profile I am a proactive, dynamic and conscientious self-starter with extensive experience in the landscape construction and garden maintenance industry. I possess excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills. I pride myself on my ability to develop positive relationships both professionally and personally. As an individual, I thrive under pressure and enjoy the challenges of working to strict deadlines, whilst always ensuring that optimum results are achieved.

Education & Qualifications Leeds Metropolitan University, September 2009 –May2012 BA (Hons) in Landscape Architecture: Modules on this course included design with plants, rural planning and design and a land design project, in which I conducted a site analysis and designed an appropriate strategy in order to create an innovative inner city space.

Askham Bryan College, September 2008 – June 2009 BTEC National Diploma Horticulture (MERIT, MERIT, DISTINCTION) Capel Manor College, September 2007 – June 2008 BTEC National Award in Horticulture Honley High School, September 2001 – June 2006 5 GCSE’s, including Maths and English (A-C), G.N.V.Q Science Other Skills-I am a highly competent user of all Microsoft Applications. I am also fully trained in other software applications including, but not limited to AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Google Sketchup.

Career Summary Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale, March 2013 - Sept 2013 At Groundwork I work voluntary for around 6 months, accompanying a senior landscape architect on a variety of projects ranging from small to big. The work experience helped me to develop my existing skill and add new skills to my portfolio, helping me to further education in landscape architecture Groundworkgardening.com ltd, June 2006 - September 2010 Position held: Assistant Manager At Groundworkgardening.com I was employed on a seasonal basis while I continued with my studies. I was heavily involved with landscaping domestic and commercial projects from start to finish, which included planning and implementing designs. As the assistant manager I was not only responsible for myself but for a team of people, and I was able to demonstrate my excellent leadership abilities on a daily basis by ensuring that my team and I met all deadlines, completed projects to the complete satisfaction of the client. Although I worked comfortably and efficiently beside my team, I was always confident in delegating tasks when necessary.

Insideout london ltd, May 2007 – August 2008 Position held: Landscape gardener Insideout is a highly professional landscape gardening company located in London. Whilst employed as a landscape gardener I worked in a number of different environments, manually building domestic gardens. Although I personally did not have any creative input in this role, I was able to gain experience in the field by working closely with a designer on a regular basis, which I found extremely rewarding.