Being Human: Ujwala Fernandes

We speak to five landscape professionals, asking them what ‘human’ skill they best add to projects, where they see skills gaps and what they didn’t learn in their training – but now recognise as vital…

Ujwala Fernandes works as an Associate Landscape Architect at SNC-Lavalin Atkins business and is currently working on some of the most significant projects in Scotland including the A9 Dualling Project, Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, Edinburgh Tram – the York Place to Newhaven Extension and the Edinburgh Street Design Guidance.

As a landscape architect you need to be passionate and enthusiastic about what you are trying to create and be able to communicate your ideas effectively to a wide audience.

You need to be sensitive to the needs and requirements of various user groups and be able to interpret and translate these requirements into your designs in a sympathetic manner to deliver a successful project.

Negotiation and compromise is vital, and I don’t think our training reflects that.

As a student, the design is yours for you to develop as you please. What you realise in practice is that designing a scheme is a collaborative process involving other professional disciplines – and often there are conflicting interests and priorities that need to be balanced to deliver a sound design.

This can be a complex and challenging process and our graduates often find this quite difficult and disheartening – I know I did at first.

Over my years in practice I’ve learned that good design occasionally involves making compromises; however, it’s important to stay positive and use your creative design skills to negotiate competing demands and achieve a positive outcome.

We live in a digital world, in which designing in a three-dimensional BIM environment is fast becoming a necessity. Landscape professionals need to develop their skills in this area – not just training in the use of compliant software, but a shift of attitude and transformation of practices to fully embrace the benefits of BIM and pass these benefits on to the client.