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We are a landscape and urbanism design studio creating resilient places that stand the test of time

People walking on a sunlit path and metal bridge in a green urban park with trees and wildflowers.

We can help you with

Landscape Architecture

Whether your space is big or small, urban or rural, we’ll advise on how to make the most of your site to create a quality where people and planet thrive.

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Urbanism

We can support your strategic projects, whether you’re preparing a funding bid, wanting to define your strategic direction or identify housing sites.

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Creative community engagement

We’ll deliver your stakeholder consultation, helping to activate a local community around a single project or wider regeneration plans.

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Visual impact assessments

We’ll carry out landscape and townscape visual impact assessments that assess site sensitivities, inform and shape development proposals and support planning applications.

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Landscape Architecture

Collaborative landscape design for people and nature

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Urbanism

Working across all development scales and disciplines to deliver impactful change

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Storytelling & Communication

Creative ways of sharing stories through design and activity

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Creative Community Engagement

Putting people and place at the heart of shaping what we do

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Visual Impact Assessments

Landscape and Townscape Visual Impact Assessment service

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We deliver design solutions for developers and local authorities

Our work brings together expertise in landscape architecture, place strategy and urbanism, community engagement and technical visual impact assessment work, to offer an integrated service for developers and public sector bodies.

We work across all layers, bringing curiosity, rigour and purpose to our work to balance the big picture with the fine-grained detail. Our designs help create resilient places that are rooted in context and meet real needs.

How we work

We design for healthy places that work now and for the future

We focus on designing authentic cities and neighbourhoods that prioritise human-scale living, connectivity and sustainability.

Places that are catalysts for positive change

We work with communities to create places that are catalysts for change, delivering attractive and life-centric designs that embrace authentic, inclusive, nature-based solutions.

Places for people and planet

From parks and public spaces to ecological restoration and urban greening, our designs blend creativity with sustainability to enhance the harmony between people and nature.

We work across every layer of great placemaking

We specialise in place strategy, placemaking and design, understanding the stories of places to inspire connection, identity and community.

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We promote community led design

Our co-design approach fosters collaboration, combining local knowledge with professional expertise to create spaces that reflect shared values and aspirations.

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We want to make a positive impact

We create spaces that enable the planet, people and place to thrive and flourish.

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We are Layer.studio

We are a landscape urbanism studio of creative minds driven by curiosity, rigour and purpose.

Three people working at desks with computers in a bright, modern office space.
Project highlight

THE FIELD: HARDMAN SQUARE, MANCHESTER

Urban park scene with people walking along a pathway lined with trees and a neon sign reading 'And the bees still buzz' accompanied by a bee illustration.
Green urban garden with trees and tall grasses between modern glass office buildings under clear sky.

A green oasis in the heart of Manchester’s business district

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Project highlight

MAYFIELD PARK, MANCHESTER

Manchester’s first new public park in a century

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Man in sportswear walking on a path surrounded by purple and white flowers with wooden wall background.
A peaceful park area with a winding paved path, benches, young trees, wildflowers, and a wooden platform over a small stream.

Latest

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Giving Children a Voice: The Thinking Behind our Award-Winning Playspace

As layer.studio approaches its tenth year of practice, we are reflecting on the moments that have shaped our journey from a small studio in 2016 to a national ecosystem of studios.

Circ_it is coming to UKR***F 2026

Circ_it returns this summer, bringing its collaborative “hack the system” format to UKR***F 2026 in Leeds.
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The numbers

Layer.studio is committed to designing and delivering resilient, people-centred and nature-led places with our ethos of bold, purpose-driven design.

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500+

Projects

Person with a backpack walking on a paved path through a green urban garden surrounded by trees and plants with modern buildings in the background.
11,000

Trees planted

225

Places

Manchester
+44 (0)1625 523 157
manchester@layer.studio
Newcastle
+44 (0)1625 523 157
newcastle@layer.studio
London
+44 (0)1625 523 157
london@layer.studio
Bristol
+44 (0)1625 523 157
bristol@layer.studio
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