In this month’s edition of ‘The Start of Something…’ we speak to our dear friend and collaborator, the artist Stephen Broadbent.
Stephen and his studio enable and create award-winning art in the public realm for cities across the UK, and we’ve been working together for over 30 years – before the start of Planit.
What unites all of Stephen’s projects is where he begins – with the context. His work, with us and others, begins with creating a vision for a place and how it can make you feel right there, in that place; his passion for delving deep into local identity, history and storytelling acts as the catalyst to bringing members of the community alongside our collective work and into our city’s squares, parks and gardens.
His care, spirituality and passion are clear to hear.
Planit and Stephen continue to work on numerous projects of differing scales across a variety of geographies and media. We began together in Sheffield and along the way have collaborated around stadia, research facilities, market squares and streets - including our home town of Altrincham and its now famous Market.
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Created by Planit, produced by Goldbean Studios.
See podcast.co/privacy for privacy information.
The Start of Something... The Planit Podcast
Welcome to the Planit podcast. We are landscape architects, urban designers, visualisers and community engagement specialists.
This year we turn 25 and wanted to celebrate what we’ve learnt – our successes and our failings – and hear stories from key people we’ve met along the journey.
The podcast name shares a title with Planit’s new book, ‘The Start of Something...’.
Its content reflects the way we look at our work and the part we can play in fixing the world around us.
We don’t ‘finish’ places when a project of ours completes. It marks the beginning of something. We will always be ‘starters’, committed to the craft of change and movement towards regenerative practice; despite our projects taking years or decades to realise and mature. We have a saying that gets used in our work: ‘Plan for the life of an Oak tree’.
The Start of Something series speaks to everyone interested in positive change, generous leadership and, through business, the drive to leave the world better than we found it.
In each episode, we’ll introduce you to some great thinkers, creators, and leaders.
We have completed the first year of content – thanks to those people who feature in the book.
Tune in every month to find out more, and head over to our website, planit-ie.com, where you can find our news, discover our team, and learn why we do what we do.
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Created by Planit, produced by Goldbean Studios.
See podcast.co/privacy for privacy information.
Meet the Host
I am one of the three founding Directors of Planit. Proud Joint MD with my fellow founder Ed Lister and member of the B Corp Climate Collective - committed to the accelerated journey to Net Zero by 2030.
I’m a Landscape Architect operating as an Urban Designer and spending my days across all our studios, sharing wisdom and experience with all members of the 80 strong Planit-IE team.
I oversee a select number of our major projects through the early stages up to planning approval, and I am frequently involved in funding and grant bid preparation and submission.
Large or small scale, like all of Planit’s team, I hope my enthusiasm and drive is infectious!
I am currently leading our team as ‘Masterplan Guardian’ for Peel L&P’s £5bn Liverpool Waters project and working as part of a growing team for Manchester’s Victoria North and the delivery of our City River Park.
I’m a member of the Liverpool Combined Authority Built Environment Board, a B Corp Ambassador and avid long-distance cyclist.
Specialties: Urban Design & Masterplanning; Community Engagement; Expert Witness; Landscape Management & Stewardship; Design Review. B Corp Governance