On the face of it, a pop-up playground in Sydney, a one-kilometre long shopping mall in Seoul and a High Street in decline in Croydon, London don’t have much in common. But over the past few months these places have all been reimagined by design teams that included Jon Hazelwood – an accomplished landscape architect, recently promoted to Principal at HASSELL.

Jon Hazelwood has spent the past 18 years practicing as a Landscape Architect, in the UK and Australia and is known for his fresh, collaborative and energetic approach.

“I really enjoy bringing the right expertise and talent together for the best project outcome, no matter what discipline or design background someone may have, or where they are located,” says Jon. “Last month I had a great experience working on the Seunsangga Citywalk competition in Korea with team members in London, Sydney, Melbourne and Shanghai.”

Jon draws inspiration from interesting and inspirational collaborators. “Getting the view point from collaborators as disparate as a brand expert, a story teller or a horticulturalist, all make for a vastly better project,” he said.

Jon was part of the team working with Archikidz to create PLAY[ground]. The pop-up play space saw 4,000 children running, climbing and giggling their way through the installation as part of the annual Vivid Sydney event.

Originally from Newcastle in the north of England, Jon recently returned to Sydney, following four years in the HASSELL London Studio. Here he worked with the team, Croydon Council and external collaborators to help reverse the fortunes of Croydon South End High Street.

“The 2011 London riots were a catalyst for an extensive High Street improvement program across London. We worked in partnership with Council, the local community and likeminded collaborators to promote increased use of the high street through creating an environment more conducive to strolling, shopping and 'grazing' the restaurants,” explains Jon.

Jon says one of the biggest challenges his clients are tackling is to find new and successful ways to draw people to their site, encourage them to stay and tell their friends about their experience.

“Terms like 'activation' and 'meanwhile use' are becoming somewhat clichéd, but the fact they’re so ubiquitous goes to show the interest clients have in achieving the sort of buzz that makes a successful place,” he said.

For more information about these projects click here:

_PLAY[ground], Sydney, Australia

_Seunsangga Citywalk, Korea

_Croydon South End, United Kingdom

www.hassellstudio.com

Jon Hazelwood. Photography by HASSELL­­