Real Life Profile: Hilary Ludlow
By then I needed to start earning so I applied for a job in a local authority and become the City of Edinburgh’s first ecologist. I was lucky. I found myself working in a department alongside landscape architects, people who really understood the relationships between natural processes and functional and creative design in the environment. It’s exactly what had always excited me and it is where I have been fortunate enough to have made my career.
My work as a landscape scientist has meant that I have been able to work as an equal member of the team in development proposals. I can make sure that ecology is taken into account at the masterplanning stage, and is addressed as an element throughout a project – not as a last minute tidy up exercise.
There is nothing typical about the work. Most weeks I will be involved in site visits, client meetings, report writing and often in public consultations. Every day is different and every new job is like a mini research project.
Recently I have been involved in new towns, business parks, housing developments and trunk roads located throughout the British Isles. My particular interest is in habitats and species - the challenge is to make sure that ecology is integrated into developments, creating varied habitats and green corridors which work in association with the development which is enhanced by it.
The Landscape Institute has an inclusive approach to landscape – it sees science, design and management for what they are: interdependent and integrated parts of the same process - so I was able to join and work towards Chartership and get a professional qualification under my belt. I set up my own practice in the 1980s.
To be a landscape architect you need dedication, enthusiasm, versatility and integrity. It feels fabulous to be working for myself, doing what I love and making sure that it’s done well.
Want to find out more? Contact us for a careers pack.