FOLAR
Friends of the Landscape Archive at Reading

A Celebration of Brian Clouston’s Career in Landscape Architecture

A Celebration of Brian Clouston’s Career in Landscape Architecture

A celebration of Brian Clouston’s Career in Landscape Architecture

Section One: Introduction; Early days and the formation of the practice; Reclamation; Garden Festivals; Work in the Middle East, Work in Asia and Australia; Urban renewal and Rural infrastructure; Business Parks
Section Two: Legacy Practices and practice, discussion
Section Three: Brian Clouston’s future vision

These sessions were chaired by Annie Coombs FLI who was Managing Director of BCP Asia and Tim Gale PPLI who was a Director of BCP. There are two oral history interviews with Brian Clouston held at the MERL one made in 2012 with Lyndsey Abbott and the other done as part of this celebration in September 2023

Landscape architect Brian Clouston OBE, past president of the Landscape Institute, established a landscape practice in the 1960s that became multi-disciplinary and operated internationally. By the 1990s it was one of the leading practices in the UK and employed more people than any other in Europe. FOLAR wanted to learn more about Brian Clouston, what he did, how he attracted so many young talented staff and what type of projects they worked on. FOLAR also wanted to know what they went on to do on leaving BCP. So we invited lots of former staff to tell their stories at an event in September 2023, with Brian Clouston as the star. Brian continues to think about the role and contribution that landscape architects can make to society and to world affairs and in an interview, and he chose this opportunity to discuss his current big vision for Africa. We recorded this event and two interviews with Brian Clouston, as a contribution to the oral history of the profession of landscape architecture.

2. Early days and the formation of the practice

About this series of talks

Landscape architect Brian Clouston OBE, past president of the Landscape Institute, established a landscape practice in the 1960s that became multi-disciplinary and operated internationally. By the 1990s it was one of the leading practices in the UK and employed more people than any other in Europe. FOLAR wanted to learn more about Brian Clouston, what he did, how he attracted so many young talented staff and what type of projects they worked on. FOLAR also wanted to know what they went on to do on leaving BCP. So we invited lots of former staff to tell their stories at an event in September 2023, with Brian Clouston as the star. Brian continues to think about the role and contribution that landscape architects can make to society and to world affairs and in an interview, and he chose this opportunity to discuss his current big vision for Africa. We recorded this event and two interviews with Brian Clouston, as a contribution to the oral history of the profession of landscape architecture.

  • Section One: Introduction; Early days and the formation of the practice; Reclamation; Garden Festivals; Work in the Middle East, Work in Asia and Australia; Urban renewal and Rural infrastructure; Business Parks

  • Section Two: Legacy Practices and practice, discussion.

  • Section Three: Brian Clouston’s future vision.

These sessions were chaired by Annie Coombs FLI who was Managing Director of BCP Asia and Tim Gale PPLI who was a Director of BCP.

About this video

William Cairns and Brian Clouston were both students at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, following national service; both influenced by landscape architect Jane Wood to follow her profession, and both studied at Durham inspired by Brian Hackett and his teaching on ecology. Some of Brian Clouston’s leadership qualities were already evident to William at RBGE: his compassion, ambition, a willingness to share ideas, and affability.

He also noted that Brian ‘could have been admiral of the fleet’ had he so wished.

Tim Gale tracked the growth of the BCP offices across the UK and then also by 1988 in Australia and the Far East. At this stage, it was estimated that some 25% of all practising landscape architects in UK were or had been working for BCP. In the 1990s, Brian Clouston was awarded an OBE; the practice was taken over by RPS with Brian as chairman, and he retired from the practice in 1992. He was first recipient of the LI Legacy Award in 2020.