ABOUT
J&L Gibbons is an established and visionary Landscape Architecture studio based in London. The practice began in 1986 and is renowned for its innovative and holistic design process combining research and an open-minded approach to design. J&L Gibbons has the experience and skill to envisage and communicate the dynamic and specific beauty of each landscape over the long-term. The practice is driven by a desire to safeguard the deep ecologies that shape the character of a place. It is dedicated to key practice priorities of design quality, integrated green infrastructure, promoting natural heritage (especially veteran trees), landscape stewardship and community empowerment through sharing knowledge and experience in the landscape. This is reflected in the studio’s portfolio which is characterised by a scrupulous understanding of both natural processes and community networks.
Our research activities are fundamental to our design practice. Particular strands include anthropogenic soils, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), urban forestry and wellbeing. This is realised through projects in landscape restoration, habitat creation and design with nature, particularly in the urban environment. Publications such as the recent ‘Conversations on Urban Forestry’ aim to elucidate the fertile ground of our cross disciplinary practice. We are a core research partner of Urban Mind with Kings College London and art collective Nomad Projects concerning how city living is affecting well-being. In 2016 we established a unique and innovative Social Enterprise, Landscape Learn, using the seasonality of nature to structure an alternative approach to immersive learning processes. We are dedicated to collaborative practice and upholding the origins of the profession which cross the arts, sciences and humanities.
As a founding signatory of UK Landscape Architects Declare Climate & Biodiversity Emergency, J&L Gibbons is serious about its environmental and social responsibilities. Creative Partners Jo and Neil regularly lecture internationally. They champion landscape architecture, with urgency, as a critical discipline in shaping a more resilient, healthy and uplifting vision for the future.
TEAM
Johanna Gibbons RDI
BA (Hons) FLI FRSA
Founding Partner
Johanna is Founding Partner of J&L Gibbons, Founding Director of social enterprise Landscape Learn and Fellow of the Landscape Institute. Jo was honoured as Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) for her ‘pioneering and influential work combining design with activism, education and professional practice’. She is the current Master of the Faculty of Royal Designers, the first Landscape Architect in this prestigious role. She is appointed as a Design Advocate to the Mayor of London and is a Research Partner of Kings College London on Urban Mind and related research on mental wellbeing in the urban environment.
Johanna has an international profile as a member of the International Scientific Committee for the World Forum on Urban Forests and as a design juror for Europan and the Holcim Foundation committed to sustainable design. She is widely respected for seamlessly incorporating ecology, urban planning, conservation, community and the arts within her approach, with a rigorous focus on climate change adaptation, social need and building for biodiversity. Her many award-winning, collaborative and innovative designs and engagement strategies, mostly within the public realm, span over four decades of practice, from urban regeneration and estate planning to cemeteries, cathedrals and museums.
Neil Davidson
MA distinction FLI FRSA
Partner and Studio Director
Neil is a Fellow of the Landscape Institute and Studio Director at J&L Gibbons, having joined in 1999. He is a Director of the social enterprise Landscape Learn and a Research Partner of Urban Mind. Neil trained in Landscape Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art. He is a member of several design review panels and the International Scientific Committee, ‘Masters of Landscape’, located in Rome. Neil has lectured and worked in Europe and the US and maintains strong links with education. He lectures on the MA Landscape Architecture course at the University College London, Bartlett School of Architecture.
His expertise includes sub-regional strategic plans, public realm frameworks, public parks and heritage and cultural landscapes. He is currently partner in charge of the Urban Nature Project at the Natural History Museum, the Nature + Love project for the Horniman Museum & Gardens and Girton College Cambridge.
Flea Keeble
BSc (Hons) distinction
Consultant Studio Manager
Flea is the Consultant Studio Manager at J&L Gibbons having joined the practice in 2004. Since joining she gained a Foundation Degree with Distinction in 2007 and a BSc First Class Honours degree in Understanding London at Birkbeck College University of London in 2009. Prior to joining J&L Gibbons Flea worked at Andrew Wright Associates, with Mel Calman at the Cartoon Arts Trust, Maurice Hatton at Mithras Films and the Literary Agents Goodwin Associates.
Running the studio’s operational needs Flea enables J&L Gibbons to work on projects within diverse contexts and scales for a range of clients and end-users. These include high-profile cultural, heritage, educational and health clients in the UK including, The Natural History Museum, The Science Museum Group, the British Library, English Heritage, the Royal Collection Trust, Maggie’s and the University of Cambridge.
Victoria Sutherland
MA CMLI
Partner
Victoria is a Chartered Landscape Architect and Partner at J&L Gibbons having joined the practice in 2012. She graduated with distinction from the Edinburgh College of Art Landscape Architecture master’s programme in 2011.
Her experience ranges across public parks, urban regeneration, heritage and cultural landscapes. Projects include the Stirling Prize winning John Morden Centre and nominated Bushey Cemetery. Vicky has extensive experience working in highly sensitive landscapes and gardens including the UNESCO World Heritage Palace of Holyroodhouse Future Programme in Edinburgh for the Royal Collection Trust, the National Lottery Heritage Funded Pitzhanger Manor & Walpole Park and Marble Hill Revived for English Heritage in Richmond. She was the project Landscape Architect for the Urban Nature Project at the Natural History Museum and is currently leading two new projects in Cambridge for the University and Girton College.
Peter Kennedy
MSc distinction CMLI
Partner
Peter is a Chartered Landscape Architect and Partner at J&L Gibbons having joined the practice in 2016. After graduating from The University of Edinburgh Landscape Architecture programme Peter was awarded the Scottish Landscape Institute and the UK Landscape Institute Student Portfolio prizes in 2016. In 2017 he was awarded the Best European Masters’ Portfolio by the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools. Prior to joining J&L Gibbons Peter worked in Zurich, Switzerland. His work has been exhibited in ‘Wunderlust/Wanderkammer’ in Switzerland and NYC (2014-2015) and in ‘Remember With Us’ at Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, Kraków (2016).
He has experience across a range of scales in the cultural, heritage and private residential sectors, including Inger Munch’s Pier at the MUNCH in Oslo, The Natural History Museum Urban Nature Project and St Albans Cathedral Sumpter Yard Revived. He is currently project lead on the British Library’s Boston Spa Renewed Project creating the world’s most sustainable archive, Maggie’s Maidstone and the Horniman Museum & Gardens Nature + Love project.
Lanxin Zhong
BEng MSc MILI CMLI
Landscape Architect
Lanxin is a Chartered Landscape Architect who joined J&L Gibbons in 2024. She graduated from the Landscape Architecture and Landscape Heritage master’s programme from the Politecnico di Milano in 2021. During her studies, she was awarded the 2020 Student Award by the American Society of Landscape Architects. Lanxin previously worked in Dublin, Ireland where she qualified as a corporate member of the Irish Landscape Institute.
Since joining J&L Gibbons Lanxin has been working on a range of projects including Maggie’s Maidstone for a new centre in Kent, the British Library Piazza at St Pancras, a feasibility study for the rejuvenation of Paddington Street Gardens, the St Marylebone Parish Church Gardens and a research project for the Wellcome Trust exploring the relationship between extreme heat and mental health in collaboration with Kings College London amongst others.
Juan Elton
BArch (Hons) MLA distinction
Landscape Architect
Juan is a registered Architect in Chile who graduated with an honours Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Universidad de Chile, specialising in Landscape Architecture in 2020. He was awarded a Becas Chile scholarship in 2022 and graduated from the University College London Landscape Architecture master’s programme in 2024 with distinction. He joined J&L Gibbons in 2025. Prior to moving to London Juan worked in Chile on various landscape projects from concept to delivery.
Since joining J&L Gibbons Juan has been working on the design of The New Courts for Girton College Cambridge and the Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial Landscape competition alongside a new project for the University of Cambridge.
Tilly Rigby
MA MLA distinction
Landscape Architect
Tilly is an associate member of the Landscape Institute joining J&L Gibbons in 2025. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2021 with a First-Class degree in History going on to achieve a distinction-grade master’s in Landscape Architecture in 2023. She was awarded the T Bowhill Gibson Scholarship and her graduating project was part of the University’s submission to the International Landscape Architecture School Price held at the 12th Barcelona International Landscape Biennial. Tilly previously worked in Bath prior to moving to London.
Since joining J&L Gibbons Tilly has been working on Imperial College London’s campus greening project - Rooted in Horticulture – at their South Kensington Campus, delivering the first phase in the Beit Quadrangle and the Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial Landscape competition.
George RuskinBA (Hons) MA distinction
Studio Manager
George joined J&L Gibbons as Studio Manager in 2025. He holds a BA (Hons) in French and German from the University of Bristol. He lived in Berlin and Lyon before studying for an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths, University of London. His postgraduate research focused on the work of Daphne Oram and he graduated with a distinction in 2022. Before joining the studio, George was an arts journalist and documentary maker. His 2023 documentary ‘Harassment Architecture’ for BBC Radio 4 focused on the impact of hostile public design on London’s homeless community.
George supports the smooth running of the studio, contributing to its collaborative culture, social enterprise, and status in the industry, supporting the team in the delivery of high-profile landscape design in a range of public and cultural settings.
George supports the smooth running of the studio, contributing to its collaborative culture, social enterprise, and status in the industry, supporting the team in the delivery of high-profile landscape design in a range of public and cultural settings.
LANDSCAPE LEARN
Landscape Learn is a J&L Gibbons social enterprise, which uses the seasonality of nature to structure an alternative approach to learning. It is open to students, professionals and communities, and is hosted by a network of landscape experts providing a process driven and collaborative educational environment.
landscapelearn.com
9 DAY FORTNIGHT
9 DAY FORTNIGHT
As part of an initiative to support a better work/life balance and provide greater flexibility to our team, we are implementing a 9-day fortnight working pattern.
So that our clients and collaborators are fully informed the following upcoming Fridays will be designated ‘free-days’:
So that our clients and collaborators are fully informed the following upcoming Fridays will be designated ‘free-days’:
2026
January: 16th, 30th
February: 13th, 27th
March: 13th, 27th
April: 17th
May: 1st, 15th
June: 5th, 19th
July: 3rd, 17th, 31st
August: 14th, 28th
September: 11th, 25th
October: 9th, 23rd
November: 6th, 20th
December: 4th, 18th
March: 13th, 27th
April: 17th
May: 1st, 15th
June: 5th, 19th
July: 3rd, 17th, 31st
August: 14th, 28th
September: 11th, 25th
October: 9th, 23rd
November: 6th, 20th
December: 4th, 18th
CREDITS
Portrait photography Sarah Blee
CREDITS
Landscape Learn photo Marta Buoro
Website design & build Eve Izaak