FOLAR
Friends of the Landscape Archive at Reading

Celebrating Hal Moggridge's Career In Landscape Architecture

A celebration of Hal Moggridge’s Career in Landscape Architecture

FOLAR wanted to understand what impact working with two founding members of the Institute has had on his own approach to landscape architecture, but also in the positions he took on with the LI and IFLA. He has developed a broad and deep knowledge on many aspects of landscape architecture. FOLAR wanted to learn more about some of his key interests and their practical applications that cover both his commissioned and voluntary work. Through a varied programme of speakers and topics we hoped to discover more about his work, ideas, principles, and also about him.

How can such a quiet and modest man achieve so much?

Colvin and Moggridge is now the UK’s oldest landscape practice. The archives of both Hal Moggridge and Brenda Colvin are safely housed at MERL, fully catalogued and open to all: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collections/brenda-colvin.

One of the most valuable objectives with FOLAR’s celebrations on special lives is being able to discuss, ask questions, see projects and learn and also share so much more about different aspects of peoples’ life and work, rather than guessing or making assumptions.  We hope you will enjoy what you find here.

Hal Moggridge, OBE, is an architect, landscape architect, author, past president of the Landscape Institute (LI), twice winner of the LI gold medal, recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour. And, in September 2025, he was honoured with the IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects) President’s Award, given in recognition of his contribution for the advancement of the profession of landscape architecture through participation with IFLA.  

Continuing FOLAR’s special series celebrating the life and works of UK’s renowned landscape architects, Hal was an obvious choice. He has spent almost all of his working life in landscape architecture. Hal has spent his working life in landscape architecture. Throughout this time, he has shared his knowledge and wisdom guiding multiple landscape focused organisations and professional bodies at international, national, and local levels. Hal has long provided a compass of wisdom, generosity, and diplomacy. He sees landscapes not only as cultural treasures, but also tools for reconciliation and he embraces diversity as a strength. His courage, clarity, and humanistic vision continue to inspire. He continues working now as a consultant to his practice and advising on multiple committees, including FOLAR.  

We wanted to understand what impact working with two founding members of the Institute has had on his own approach to landscape architecture, but also in the positions he took on with the LI and IFLA.

3. Working with Hal

About this video

Brenda Colvin wanted her practice, which she established in 1922 and moved to her home in the village of Filkins, Oxfordshire, in 1960s, to continue beyond her retirement. Retirement is not the right word, but possibly it was going to be when she felt she would not have the necessary stamina to continue with her portfolio of work. As this included some long-running projects and long-standing clients, she was preparing this succession plan and so in 1968-69 she consulted with her friends, Susan and Geoffrey Jellicoe.

By chance, they were organising a supper with colleagues who had been involved with founding the Institute of Landscape Architects, to which they also invited Hal. Susan knew Hal as the son of her friend, artist and teacher Helen Moggridge. As Hal had worked in Jellicoe and Coleridge's office over a summer term while at the AA, and then also for some three years in the early 1960s, Geoffrey knew enough about Hal to sit him next to Brenda at the dinner and hope for the best. After a successful trial period of a few months, Brenda and Hal agreed to form a partnership, with Hal moving to Filkins at Brenda's request and renaming the practice Colvin and Moggridge at Hal's request.

In 1997 Hal, with his partner Chris Carter, carefully crafted their succession plan for the continuation of the practice. They would end their partnership, become employees of the practice, and three long-term members of the practice would become directors and take over. Mark Darwent, Clare Paige and Martin Bhatia reveal the impact learning from Hal has had on their approach to understanding, seeing, designing, restoring, conserving and creating landscapes, with a particular emphasis on views, things seen and unseen. And they will have also successfully learnt how to manage and run a practice.

The discipline of walking the landscape to feel and understand it underfoot is a crucial part of the process. And making accurate notes. Rigorously identifying and mapping all the significant views within the estate can take days, but all the information collected is subsequently used to determine a new drive, the siting of a new building or lake, and also where new tree planting can be established so that, with time, it frames views.

View studies form a major part of Hal's work in the Royal Parks, both restoring and protecting views. Visitors enjoy being inside the Royal Parks and being unaware of the surrounding city. Proposed tall buildings presented a real threat to this bosky quality. The report Hal carried out for Jennifer Adams at the Royal Parks represented an approach that can be readily adopted and applied anywhere. Significant places and views are identified that require an open skyline in order to retain a particular character and quality of context. View cones are calculated to establish the maximum height of a proposed building before it intrudes into the view, and these maximum heights were represented graphically on a map as contour lines. While the Mayor of London’s office ignored this practical tool, Edinburgh City Council commissioned a study to update their tall buildings policy to safeguard views of their City's most significant built and natural elements.

The current directors recognise the value of the stimulating nurturing they have received from both partners. It is interesting to note that while Hal was working with Jellicoe and Coleridge in the early 1960s, one of his projects there was with view studies in connection with Gloucester Cathedral. He kept hold of that thread and developed it into a tool that won a Europa Nostra award and attracted the attention of the Scottish capital, alas not London, yet. There will of course also be the influence of Brenda Colvin evident in the practice's DNA along with Chris Carter and doubtless from the current directors and others too.

Speakers: Chris Carter, Mark Darwent, Martin Bhatia, Clare Paige and Jennifer Adams.

About this series of talks

Hal Moggridge was an obvious choice to continue FOLAR’s special series celebrating the life and works of UK’s renowned landscape architects. He has spent almost all of his working life in landscape architecture. Throughout this time, he has shared his knowledge and wisdom guiding multiple landscape focused organisations and professional bodies at international, national, and local levels. Hal has long provided a compass of wisdom, generosity, and diplomacy. He sees landscapes not only as cultural treasures, but also tools for reconciliation and he embraces diversity as a strength. His courage, clarity, and humanistic vision continue to inspire. He continues working now as a consultant to his practice and as a volunteer advising on multiple committees, including FOLAR.

Through a varied programme of speakers and topics we hoped to discover more about his work, ideas, principles, and also about him. How can such a quiet and modest man achieve so much?

One of the most valuable objectives with FOLAR’s celebrations on special lives is being able to discuss, ask questions, see projects and learn and also share so much more about different aspects of peoples’ life and work, rather than guessing or making assumptions.     

The archives of both Hal Moggridge and Brenda Colvin are at The MERL, fully catalogued and open to all by appointment: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collections/brenda-colvin.

The Landscape Institute collection at MERL: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collections/landscape-institute/

More information about FOLAR, and joining us https://www.folar.uk/

 
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