Andrew Grant founded his practice, Grant Associates in 1997, which grew into an international design studio with offices in Bath and Singapore. His most significant work, Gardens by the Bay, won the Building Project of the Year Award at the 2012 World Architecture Festival and continues to be one of the most visited places designed by a landscape architect.

Beyond his design work, Grant is a Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He also serves on the National Infrastructure Commission Design Group in the UK. In his hometown of Bath, he chairs the Bathscape Landscape Partnership and is a member of the Bath World Heritage Site Advisory Board. In 2023, Bath Spa University awarded Grant an Honorary Doctorate of Letters. Additionally, he co-founded the pop-up festival Forest of Imagination, which engages the community in reimagining urban spaces and their connection to nature.

In the interview we opened topics about his beginnings and formative ideas, positioning and standing point, design and work process and where Andrew Grant finds excitement.

Let’s start with your “formative project”, The Earth Centre in Doncaster. At the turn of the millennium, when environmental issues were becoming hot, this education and entertainment centre was designed in an awareness shift towards a more sustainable future. Even though it is a beautiful project, it unfortunately went bust. What have you learned while working on this project?

I learned so much on the Earth Centre. It was a visually stunning and educational project that taught me that imagining the future is at the heart of landscape architecture. It also gave us more confidence to speak to the narratives of sustainability, while developing a deeper understanding of the technicalities of sustainable landscape design. Having a team with a lot of complementary skills but with a shared vision, gives us the ability to break down barriers and shape history. This was a very collaborative project and we worked closely with brilliant designers and artists – building trust and all working together towards our vision was key. One of the most powerful outtakes for me was that we can restore devastated landscapes by opening the door to nature’s regenerative power. And sadly, one of the final learnings was that however worthy an idea, it is always subject to the whims of politics and finance.

Your signature project, Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, skyrocketed the recognition and perception of landscape architecture design (and your practice). I remember seeing it as a student, not knowing what to think, as the difference in aesthetics, climate, and other conditions in central Europe, for example, is almost inversed compared to that in Singapore. The project is one of the most popular tourist attractions worldwide, and it’s probably the most iconic landscape architecture landmark. It is an entertainment park that needs heavy attention to maintenance, widely different to that of a public park. Can you address some concerns opened and explain your relationship with different clients in terms of public and private landscapes?

How do we process the environmental, moral, and ethical contradictions that lie within major development projects? This is a critical question that challenges the entire profession.

Some public and private clients recognise the need for landscapes that address climate change and urban density, while for others, these priorities are secondary or economically unfeasible.

At Grant Associates, we seek opportunities to set a benchmark for sustainable landscape design — where environmental responsibility shapes a project’s identity. Some projects align seamlessly with sustainability principles, such as Accordia in Cambridge, which set a UK standard for landscape-led urban housing, and Mountbatten House in Basingstoke, where the rooftop landscape remains central to the building’s renewal.

Other projects present complexities. Gardens by the Bay is an international icon of environmental innovation but carries a high embodied carbon cost and is a magnet for long-haul tourists, contributing to aviation emissions. Similarly, Kempegowda Terminal 2 in Bangalore reimagines the airport experience as a biophilic, culturally-rooted space—yet it celebrates air travel, a major carbon contributor.

As a practice, we have debated these dilemmas and committed to projects where we can push the boundaries of sustainable landscape architecture and ecological design.

In your broad client portfolio, you also include big names from the industry, some at odds with ideals from the start of the millennium. How do you balance using landscape architecture as a green carpet to sweep issues under and the positive influences it can offer? Is there something you decline? 

Gardens by the Bay opened doors to new opportunities worldwide. Some projects may seem at odds with our core values, but we always seek ways to advance landscape and ecological design towards a more enlightened and sustainable future.

That said, we have clear boundaries. We regularly decline projects that risk significant harm to natural or cultural environments, lack value for local communities, or offer little scope for sustainable placemaking.

An important part of this debate is when landscape architects are brought into a project. In many instances, schemes are predetermined by clients and other consultants, limiting the potential to reshape ecological and landscape foundations. We rarely take on projects unless we can contribute from the outset—ideally leading masterplanning and concept development. Increasingly, this is becoming the norm for major international planning and design studies.

In a bigger design company (and even smaller ones), the director often becomes the representative, holding meetings and communicating with clients. This takes a whole person. How do you engage with projects and studio workers? What are you searching for in portfolios of your staff or their personalities and what do they learn first, working for Grant Associates?

I have never been a dictator type of director, and I don’t have the ego to be in the spotlight, but I do have the confidence to set ambitions for the company and I think team loyalty at Grant Associates is a reflection of that positive sense of direction. 

What do new people learn first when working at Grant Associates? I hope they quickly realise they’ve joined an exceptional multinational team—one that has tackled challenges together for years to deliver world-class projects.

While I once interviewed every new hire, I now trust my senior team, who are far better at assessing technical skills and experience. That said, I still review CVs, and if a candidate’s life story, interests, or portfolio stands out, I take notice.

As the company has grown, my co-directors, Peter Chmiel and Keith French, have developed their own leadership profiles. More recently, we appointed a team of Associate Directors to oversee studio management while driving creative responses to our expanding global portfolio.

This evolving structure has freed me from day-to-day operations, allowing me to refocus on the future—much like when I founded Grant Associates, driven by a passion for imaginative, sustainable landscapes.

Do you have time for research and design, what do you engage with, what do you read? What is the latest insight informing your work?

I’m most excited when I surprise myself—when an idea emerges from nowhere and just feels right. Sketching, drawing, and modelling these ideas is my core skill, quietly making marks that sometimes take flight, evolving into sophisticated 3D models, renders, and inspiring places.

With age, new interests have emerged. I love the unpredictability of Forest of Imagination, a pop-up arts and ecology initiative I co-founded with Dr. Penny Hay and have supported for 12 years. Curating installations across the city and modelling birds and animals as exhibits has opened up fresh creative challenges.

I also recognise my role in shaping professional discourse. Engaging in political debates on design is an honour, whether as part of the UK’s National Infrastructure Design Group, Chair of the Bathscape Landscape Partnership, or a member of the Bath Preservation Trust’s Advocacy and Campaigns Committee.

At 66, people often ask about retirement. I recall meeting Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe at 94—he told me his best projects came after 80. I may never top Gardens by the Bay, but I remain hopeful and determined to keep shifting the dial.