News & insights
Ideas, People and Places
The latest from Influence: projects, perspectives and insights
From the studio.
Project progress, planting details, people and everyday studio life—shared by Influence.
@influence__ltd
CarouselYesterday, Shona Hatton, Design Director, attended Day 1 of @thegardenstrust Historic Landscapes Assembly: New Town Landscapes: Learning from the Past, Shaping the Future. Joined by Denver Hendricks, Deputy Head of the School of Architecture at the @unilincoln the event brought together academics and practitioners for a discussion that extended far beyond New Towns. Key topics included: 🌿 Educating future talent to meet evolving industry needs 🌿 Promoting landscape-led solutions to address climate and societal challenges 🌿 Applying historical lessons to shape future environments For Shona, the event marked a meaningful full-circle moment as she reconnected in person with her former Head of Landscape at the @uniofgreenwich Robert Holden - a highlight during her 30th year in the industry. Her journey reflects how the profession has evolved - starting in 1996 as a fledgling landscape architect at @southwarkcouncil, today Shona is attending the official opening of the @nationaltrust Sandilands Nature Reserve on the Lincolnshire coast. From New Towns to new nature reserves, the role of landscape architects is critical. In an era requiring climate resilience, biodiversity net gain, and sustainable design, landscape-led solutions must lead the built environment forward. #Landscapearchitecture #Builtenvironment #Climateresilience #Biodiversitynetgain #Sustainabledesign #Historiclandscapes
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CarouselDay 2 complete at Lincolnshire Construction and Engineering Week 2026 🏗️ It’s been so inspiring being at the event this week, helping give some of the 1,500 visiting school children a real taste of what it’s like to be a landscape architect. Today, Leonie and Isabelle tasked four schools with designing a Roundabout Garden, and their unique approaches were incredible to watch: 🐝 The Ecologists: Some students immediately wanted to know about the existing site wildlife and plant species before sketching a single line. 🎨 The Creatives: Others dived straight in, exploring vibrant colors, bold textures, and dynamic shapes. After a site visit to the garden location, they headed back inside to draw out complete planting plans. Seeing their ideas move from field to paper was fantastic. Inspiring the next generation of spatial thinkers is what it's all about! Bring on Day 3. #LandscapeArchitecture #LincsCEW26 #EarlyCareers
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PostDay one of inspiring the next generation of landscape architects at Lincolnshire Construction and Engineering Week 2026 is a wrap! 🌿 We have a fantastic time today, tasking students to design a 'roundabout garden' for the Lincolnshire Showground. Here’s what we got up to: ✅ Site Visit: We took the students out to evaluate the roundabout in person and share ideas on ways to improve it. ✅ Hands-On Design: Back inside, they stepped into the shoes of landscape architects, arranging plant cut-outs to craft their own garden layouts. ✅ Designing for Nature: The students learned how to choose plants for multi-season interest and biodiversity to support local wildlife. The energy and creativity from the students today was incredible. We can’t wait for Days 2 and 3 as we refine these concepts before the children get hands-on and plant the roundabout themselves. Great to be collaborating with Dobson. 👍 #lincscew26 #Landscapearchitecture #Earlycareers #STEM #BuiltEnvironment #Lincolnshire
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PostIt’s day one of Lincolnshire Construction and Engineering Week 2026 at Lincolnshire Showground, and we’re delighted to be here getting stuck in! 🙌 Over the next three days, around 1,500 school students will visit the event to discover the range of careers available across construction and engineering. Jake Haywood and Keira Attridge are on our stand today, running practical, hands-on activities and giving students the chance to get involved, try something new and see first-hand what a career in landscape architecture could look like. 🌿 Events like this are a great way to challenge perceptions of construction and show young people just how many different opportunities are available. We’re looking forward to meeting as many students as possible over the next three days and hopefully inspiring the next generation to consider a career in our industry. 🚀 #LincsCEW26 #Construction #landscapearchitecture #Careers #Futuretalent #Skills #Lincolnshire
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CarouselWith only a few days until Lincolnshire Construction and Engineering Week 2026, the team at Influence is ready to inspire the next generation! ✨ Over 1,500 primary and secondary school pupils will be taking part in hands-on experiences to explore careers across the construction and engineering industries. We are excited and committed to sharing our passion for Landscape Design with young people through fun and thought provoking activities. What we have planned: 🧠 Interactive design challenges: Activities built to test student knowledge on design principles and planting. 🗺️ Real-world site design: Students will get the unique chance to design an actual site located directly on the showground. 🌿 Live planting: On day three, we will bring those ideas to life by planting up the site together! We look forward to meeting the students of Lincolnshire and seeing their creative ideas take root.🌳 #Landscapedesign #Constructionandengineeringweek #LincsCEW26 #Futuregenerations #STEM #landscapearchitecture
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Post📖 From The Archives | Lincoln Medical School In 2018, we were commissioned by @unilincoln to deliver the RIBA Stage 3 landscape design for its new Medical School, alongside @hlmarchitects 👩⚕️👨⚕️ Developed in partnership with @uniofnottingham the £21m purpose-built facility provides state-of-the-art teaching spaces for future healthcare professionals. 🌱 Sustainability was central to the design, achieving a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and incorporating solar panels, air source heat pumps and a living wall - making it the university’s first zero carbon building. The surrounding landscape creates interconnected spaces for study, collaboration and relaxation, including a roof terrace for students and staff. Interested in sustainable, zero carbon landscapes? Get in touch - we’d love to talk. #Landscapearchitecture #Sustainabledesign #Placemaking #Highereducation #Netzero
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CarouselA special afternoon at @ntsandilands Nature Reserve 🌿🪺 We were delighted to join the @nationaltrust @jonathanhendryarchitects and the wider project team at Sandilands in Lincolnshire for a pre-opening event last week, celebrating the remarkable transformation of a former golf course into an important new wetland nature reserve. It was an opportunity to pause and reflect on the journey so far - from the early vision for Sandilands to the landscape and visitor experience now taking shape on site. As landscape architects, we’re particularly proud to have played a part in shaping a landscape that puts nature at its heart, while creating new opportunities for people to experience and connect with the landscape. The transformation demonstrates what can be achieved when landscape, ecology, engineering and visitor experience are considered together from the outset. The creation of new wetland habitats, alongside the new visitor facilities and accessible landscape, will provide benefits for both nature and people for years to come. We’re proud to be part of the team delivering this ambitious project and look forward to seeing Sandilands open its doors later this monthand begin its next chapter as a place for nature, people and discovery. #Sandilands #Landscapearchitecture #Landscapedesign #Naturerecovery #Wetlands #Biodiversity #Nationaltrust #Lincolnshire
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CarouselWhat an incredible day yesterday at the CAPS Charity Golf Day, raising funds for the fantastic @nottswomenscent 's ⛳️ Team Influence were triumphant in keeping the all-important yellow ball for the whole game — and as a result, won a round at the club at Radcliffe-on-Trent! 🏆 A huge thank you to Sara's teammates, Steve Gelder from @geldergroup , Andrew McDowall from @evansmcdowallarchitects and Tom Beeson from @blueprint.interiors Great company, plenty of laughs, and a thoroughly enjoyable day on the course. Well done once again to John Tansur at Blueprint and David Ford at @gleedsglobal for putting together such a well-organised and creative day. It was a brilliant event and, most importantly, raised a fantastic amount of money for the charity. Already looking forward to next year! #CAPS #CharityGolfDay #NottinghamWomensCentre #Fundraising #TeamInfluence #Golf #Nottingham
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Post⛳️ We’re off! Today we’re supporting the CAPS Golf Day in Nottingham, raising money for a fantastic chosen charity. While fundraising is, of course, the most important part of the day… there’s another priority on our minds: 🟡 DON’T LOSE THE YELLOW BALL! 😂 Luckily, these little beauties have been sponsored by Influence, so we’re hoping they’ll keep us on course! Here’s to a great day, great company and, most importantly, raising lots of money for a brilliant cause. 🏌️♂️💛 @blueprint.interiors @gleedsglobal @geldergroup @evansmcdowallarchitects #charitygolfday #capsgolfday
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Post📅 Save the Date! The first Women in Construction in Lincolnshire (WiCiL) event of the year is coming up — and it’s set to be a fantastic afternoon! 📍 Taking place at the beautiful @skendlebyhall the afternoon will bring together networking, inspiration and plenty of opportunity to connect with others across the industry. Attendees can look forward to discovering the hall’s fascinating restoration journey, enjoy a three-course meal, and put their detective skills to the test with an interactive murder mystery challenge! 🕵️♀️ 📅 Thursday 15th October 🕧 12:30 pm–3:30 pm 📍 Skendleby Hall, Lincolnshire 🎟️ Bookings will be opening soon, with places limited to just 50 attendees. Keep an eye on the WiCiL LinkedIn page for booking details and make sure you don’t miss the chance to secure a place! #WomenInConstruction #WiCiL #Construction #Lincolnshire #Networking #BuiltEnvironment #WomenInBusiness #ConstructionIndustry
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Post💧 Should drought resilience now be considered a fundamental requirement of every landscape project, rather than a specialist consideration? 💧 This summer has been a timely reminder of the pressures our landscapes are facing. Longer dry spells, rising temperatures and increasing pressure on water resources are changing the way we need to think about planting and landscape design. 🌿 For landscape architects, this raises an important question: should drought resilience be embedded into every project from the outset, rather than treated as a specialist consideration when conditions demand it? Principal Landscape Architect at Influence, Leonie Brown, shares her perspective on the role of plant selection, maintenance and our understanding of the living landscape in creating spaces that can continue to flourish in a changing climate. “As a Landscape Architect who has the privilege to create outdoor spaces, I feel that it is fundamental to the success of a project that plants flourish as they contribute so much to the essence and character of a space. The challenge of working with plants is the cyclical change and growth, a landscape project isn’t static - it’s responding to all environmental factors; drought being a particularly powerful one. "This summer has highlighted the value of landscapes that can tolerate this stress; using plants that are drought resilient ensures that our landscapes continue to flourish when we’ve had a long dry spell or when limited water resources need to be directed elsewhere. With our knowledge and understanding of plants and maintenance, we’re best placed to input this into our projects, to create landscapes that benefit all.” 🌎 Is drought resilience becoming a fundamental part of responsible landscape design? Share your thoughts with us. @landscapecorner @lbgardendesign #Landscapearchitecture #Landscapedesign #Droughtresilience #Plantingdesign #Thoughtleadership
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CarouselIt was fantastic to see Shona and Ruth representing the team at the Nottingham Women in Construction lunch yesterday at The Cosy Club in the city. The event featured an inspiring talk from Sophie Turner, Founder and Lead Coach of #YesSheCan, who is passionate about empowering women to thrive in their careers while helping businesses create more inclusive and equitable workplace cultures. Sophie’s speech was engaging, thought-provoking and impactful, with plenty of valuable insights and inspiration to take away. A big thank you to everyone involved in bringing the event together, and to @eonenergyuk for sponsoring such an important and empowering event. 🙌🏽 #Womeninconstruction #Womeninlandscapearchitecture #Landscapearchitecture #Construction #Yesshecan #Nottingham
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