Meet the Team
Alba Campos Vazquez
Our design team are a wonderful melting pot of ideas, creativity and hard work. We realised that these days, when we are getting out and about much less, it would be a great idea to briefly profile each of the team to share something more about them. Here is another of our amazing designers Alba
Background
Spanish qualified Agricultural Engineer, she moved to London in 2012 where she did a Postgraduate Diploma in Landscape Architecture at Kingston University. Before joining CGLA in 2019 as a designer, she worked for CAPITA, a multi-disciplinary company where she got experience working in large scale projects. This year she decided to give a back and start teaching botanic at ‘C.E.I.P. A Granxa’ College in Galicia, North-West of Spain.
Project
Alba has worked on a large variety of projects at across different stages, from concept to design detailing including scaling a project, adapting to client requirements, reviewing sustainability always considering budget as a priority.
She makes sure that design and construction packs fulfil the client’s requirements at all stages and helps with planning drawings to submit as part of any planning permission application that clients want to make.
Describe your style
‘I love sculpturing the land looking for proportion and rhythm. I try to follow the five principles of landscape design: balance, focalisation, simplicity, rhythm and line, proportion and unity.
Even though aesthetics is very important for an attractive design, functionality and client’s requirements come first. I also think that choosing the right materials are key to give the right atmosphere to the design.’
Favourite plants
Alba doesn’t have a particular favourite plant. She thinks ‘right plant in the right place’.
When designing, she thinks about texture, range of colours, size, shapes, contrast and interest, looking for a composition that integrates with the surrounded landscape and goes with the client’s style. She tries to give a different seasonal experience throughout the year, like a piece of art that seeks to bring a particular emotion or mood.
Ecology and sustainability are always in her mind, as climate change is a global issue, the greatest threat facing humanity today.
How does your background inspire your creativity?
Her background as an engineer makes her look for solutions that apply to her designs. She also, in the development of her career tries to be creative and original with her designs, that is why she always looks for reference designs from which she learns and finds inspiration.
She is from Galicia, a verdant region of northwest of Spain with an Atlantic coastline.
As a Galician she is very nostalgic in general. That feeling it’s called ‘morriña‘, it is a way of being that is supposed to be given by the weather.
‘We have a nostalgic link, it seems to us that each stone, each tree and each element of tradition has value. I think that nostalgic link in a way when I design does not allow me to do complicated things. I try to keep things simple, with balance that works well.’
Do you have any hobbies that influence your design approach?
She enjoys her free time painting landscapes mainly. Exploring different techniques with brushstrokes and palette knives.
‘When I paint, I can express my love for nature and creativity and at the same time it creates a sense of accomplishment.’
Proudest moment at CGLA
‘I take pride in every project I participate in and it goes well will customer satisfaction’.
Alba is part of the design team at CGLA who are an award winning team of Garden Designers, Landscape Architects, Landscapers and Garden Maintenance Operatives working in Buckinghamshire, London and the South East, as well as on prestigious design projects across the UK and abroad. We are currently working in Oman, Jersey and France, and welcome enquires for design, landscaping or garden maintenance. Contact us here