Studio 31
The conscientious landscape architect
Ten years ago, under a million stars and over 200km from the nearest semblance of civilisation, a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson sprang to mind:
“Nature always wears the colours of the spirit”
This was never truer than in this place of red dust and scrub land. We were on the plenty highway, a dirt track stretching 800km from the east coast to the centre of Australia. Two people and desert, as far as the eye could see.
We didn’t know it then, but that moment of complete isolation, that moment of connection with the natural world; that was the moment that Studio 31 was conceived.
The intervening years moved us back to civilisation and in our own directions. They moved us to London commutes and last trains home. City life, silent studios and constrained design. We felt the frustration of trying to make a better world through the bureaucracy and red tape of organisations torn between the people and process.
Further and further from the wilds of the Suffolk countryside and adventures of a farming childhood, and further and further from building dens in the woodlands of Surrey, we suddenly felt the urge to stop.
We scrawled out our ideas onto flip chart paper and in a mass of red, blue, and green marker pen, Studio 31 was born.
It has been considered that environmentally sound practices hinder progress, innovation and aesthetically beautiful design. What we here at Studio 31 have found is something quite different; that in an industry based solely on the enrichment of outdoor spaces, sustainable process actually enhances design.
Our starting point was lifestyle not profit, it was sustaining not destroying, it was full colour not shades of grey. Embracing rather than compromising on our personalities and our ethics, forced us to move away from convention and gave us the opportunity to be bold, be adventurous and be honest.
Hoping to lead not follow, our aims are simple; create unique, innovative and personalised outdoor spaces, consider our carbon footprint and have a little fun along the way.
This is our first adventure. Welcome to studio 31.