Garden smart; a glimpse at the work landscape architect of Randle Siddeley

Gardens may seem like an unattainable luxury in this age of megacities. Yet urban planners and governments are keen to create greener cities, meaning that landscape architecture – a long overlooked discipline – is increasingly sought after.

“Unlike architects who build buildings, what I’m building is forever growing,” says Randle Siddeley, a prominent British landscape architect who has designed for commercial, residential and public spaces. Most recently, Siddeley has been hired by Swire Properties to design a 500-square-metre garden for a commercial building in Kowloon Bay. A fountain will be installed and sitting areas abound amid several species of trees, including Albizia julibrissin, the Persian silk tree and bauhinia.

A 500-square-metre plot, massive by Hong Kong standards, is tiny compared to some of Siddeley’s past projects, which include the gardens for a country estate in Quebec countryside. “Most of the time I want to create paradise, but this was already paradise,” says the architect. “So it was more about building the right elements to complement that.”

From the entrance of the Quebec estate, one drives up a road lined with aspen, birch and pine trees. Tall hedges of coniferous and ash trees line the gardens, while a stately replica of an 18th century French urn, cloned from the original using laser technology, adds Old World allure. Trellises provide a visual link between the château’s main terrace and the gardens. Obelisks provide a sense of structure, rising against the stark sky during Quebec’s harsh winter months. In a large open area, a massive pair of sculptures from Ju Ming’s Taichi series, sit. Beyond is the vast Canadian countryside.

A country estate is easy for a landscape architect to work with, but city gardens present unique challenges. For a home in west London, Siddeley redirected the garden path to the side of the house and installed a custom-built pergola, which overlooks hedges that give privacy. The natural elements are contrasted with a bespoke “water wall”, built with stainless steel louvres and outfitted with LED lights.

In Asia, the designer created Georgian-style gardens for a luxury town house development in Qingpu, China. He dealt with a noisy motorway by planting an avenue of deciduous trees either side of the road that connects the motorway to the town houses, giving residents the illusion of being on a road in the European countryside.