Landscape architect

He’s the man many motorists probably love to hate. But for Adam Fowler, helping change the face of city sites such as Oxford St, is part of his job to improve Sydney’s lifestyle for future generations. It might not be the sort of landscape architecture many of his fellow students envisaged when at university, but Fowler loves working in the urban environment.

The 33-year-old has been working with the City of Sydney for the past four years. “It’s a pretty exciting place because it is the core of the city and the surrounding suburbs as well,” he says. “As a designer [I find] they are really interesting places and the city does have the financial resources to do some excellent things.

“I am within the design management team so we really help plan and design those works. In here, we tend to work with the planning and conceptual design stage of the project and then we often procure consultant teams who deliver the technical design and construction documentation for the projects for us.
“The division is involved in delivering capital works projects for the city.

That is looking at upgrades, new parks, streets and public spaces.” Fowler says one of the requirements of a good landscape architects is the ability to transform the needs of everyone concerned into practical and sustainable solutions.”Because it is public space there is a whole range of potential users,” he says. “Ultimately you are delivering community benefits that are going to endure for many years to come.

Fowler finds the public and private sectors are quite different. “As a consultant [in the private sector], the projects have a really quick turnaround and often roles are quite targeted,” he says.
“In the public sector you have a broader perspective of how the project is delivered. And because the decision-making is quicker, you are a little bit closer to the decision makers. And you get a chance to contribute to that decision process a little more directly.

“The other good thing about local government is that you are focused on one place so over time you get to know it and understand it and some of the communities in it. You become a bit of a location expert which makes you a better designer.”

One of the projects Fowler has been working on is the Oxford St upgrade. “That is a major streetscape refurbishment and it’s great to see that finally realised,” he says. “Oxford St is an interesting project because it wasn’t just trees and pavements. It also reconfigured traffic arrangements to increase pedestrian space and involved the heritage restoration and reconstruction of all the awnings in the street.”

How to be …
a landscape architect
You will need to study landscape architecture at a university accredited by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA). For further information, contact AILA, 98794309 or aila.org.au