Hal Moggridge, Consultant, OBE VMH PPLI FIHORT RIBA AADIP
Working in the office of Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe inspired Hal to change professions, from architecture to landscape architecture, and his opportunity came in 1969 when Brenda Colvin asked him to join her as partner – she was in her 70s and he only 33. The success of the public enquiries that often preceded consent for the large industrial landscape projects the practice became renowned for can, in part, be attributed to Hal’s encyclopaedic knowledge of each and every site. To quote Hal himself: “if, under hostile cross examination, it is possible to name the species of a specific tree or remember the condition of a particular gate, then conviction is given to opinions about more strategic matters”. Indeed he fervently believes that a complete empathy with the site lies at the heart of successful landscape design. In the 1970s Hal played a key role in restoring the Capability Brown masterpiece at Blenheim, thus reviving the national interest in Brown and the Georgian natural landscape garden. Hal has never lost his feeling for the importance of views that his rediscovery of Brown inspired, and more recently, his pioneering work defining the spatial character of important urban views in Edinburgh and London has won him international acclaim. Like Brenda before him, Hal was honoured for his unique thinking and work in landscape architecture.
Filkins Office
Lechlade, Gloucestershire, GL7 3JQ
+44 (0) 1367 860225
h.moggridge@colmog.co.uk