There is great satisfaction in returning to a place that we have designed and helped deliver. I am always mindful of the challenges the project has faced and our collaborative drive to overcome them and achieve excellence. Seeing the genuine pleasure of the people that have adopted them as their own is a constant reminder why working in such a close-knit team is so important.
Tom Fowler
Tom is a Technical Director and chartered Landscape Architect at tor&co. Tom has a grounding in ecology and spatial planning but is equally adept in detailed design and implementation on site. This experience enables him to develop strategies with an appreciation of delivery, taking an optimisation approach to design, implementation, ongoing maintenance and function.
Tom has worked on many high profile design projects spanning leisure, commercial, mixed-use and residential schemes at scales ranging from intimate private gardens to large-scale infrastructure projects. He has been able to apply contrasting aesthetic styles and functions to the specific needs of the project and client aspirations.
Tom's Projects
Chewton Glen
Endorsed by celebrity chef James Martin, The Kitchen is a 12-place cookery school where budding chefs can take part in a range of day courses. Alongside the demonstration kitchens is a new informal, open plan restaurant space that allows diners to watch chefs at work in the professional kitchen and enjoy the rural setting.
tor&co’s brief was to create a garden that was not just beautiful but also a fully-functioning productive garden and an uplifting and inspiring setting for alfresco dining. To achieve this, the team worked closely with the estate, developing ideas to help showcase local suppliers and nurture home-grown produce.
The connection between the school, restaurant and the landscape is not just notional. Wherever possible, both restaurant and cookery school use produce grown on site and foraged from the estate.
Barton Park
tor&co was appointed by Grosvenor to prepare a landscape-led master plan for a sustainable residential led extension to Barton, as part of a bid to become Oxford City Council’s joint venture partner. Grosvenor subsequently won the bid process and we were appointed jointly by Oxford City Council and Grosvenor to provide master planning and landscape architectural services. Our Landscape Architects have remained involved in the project through to the implementation of the landscape infrastructure.
Its success was grounded in a robust and thoughtful approach to the outline master plan which is underpinned by a cohesive green infrastructure network comprising a series of green fingers which intersect the site and connect the community to a linear country park and surrounding countryside. Our role as landscape architects has seen this basic framework transformed into a truly ecologically rich and beautiful place to live.
Trumpington Meadows
Initially, we were appointed to provide a highly sensitive master plan. Our landscape commission continued with the design and delivery of the primary infrastructure including the 60 ha country park.
Working with the local wildlife trust, we designed ecologically enhanced floodwater drainage basins, robust plant specifications and appropriate and sensitive management regimes ultimately helping the project to deliver net biodiversity gains in excess of 60%. These measures have enhanced the public image of the scheme, created a verdant and beautiful setting for the new homes and resulted in a 10% increase in house values over comparable schemes in the area (Savills market assessment). In 2021 the scheme won the Landscape Institute Award for Excellence in Biodiversity Conservation and Enhancement.