Randle Siddeley On Embracing AI In Garden Design

10 months ago

Randle Siddeley is a Great British Brand 2024

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Randle Siddeley On Embracing AI In Garden Design

Randle Siddeley is an entry in our Great British Brands 2024 book.

Randle Siddeley: Great British Brand 2024

‘In 2023 it was great to work with Blue Forest again, creating the garden for its Magical Hideaway at the Chelsea Flower Show, which is always the pinnacle of our year. But seeing our garden, Riverdance on the Thames come together after two and half years of work has been a particularly wonderful highlight. At Riverdance, I feel I have achieved more than I’ve ever achieved before, partly because I had a dream client, who gave me a free rein, despite having a great critical eye.

Randle Siddeley Ltd (RSL) is embracing AI fast and I am all for it. We do lots of CGIs and can show people fly-throughs of how their garden will look. I clung onto the old drawing boards and tracing paper for as long as I could, and I still like doing freehand sketches but a computer can tweak your detailed drawings in a flash.

RSL is now in its 48th year and the baton must be passed on. I am still here, but on the side-lines as Chairman and no longer in the relay race. It is all about reinvention – the wheel stays round but the cogs which do the fine-tuning are far more sophisticated, and if you do not evolve you will get stuck way behind.

I never stand still and it is important to think outside the box. When I started posting on Instagram, people laughed at me but now I have 20,000 followers. I have written two books but they are behind me and instead I now have a live document for everyone to see. If people are scared of AI it is only because it is like learning another language. Having said that, I still hate Zoom meetings unless people are overseas. Every garden is unique to the person so it is important to make time for each other face to face and know each other.’

Randle Siddeley, founder

Five Proudest Moments

Creating a series of formal, classical gardens for a palatial Franco-Russian-style house between two lakes north-west of Quebec in 2007.
Developing six diverse gardens from scratch in 2020 for six homes in a new luxury development on a bare site located on a hill overlooking Discovery Bay and the South China Sea.
Winning five stars at the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show for designing the garden around Blue Forest’s Magical Hideaway.
Completing a 27-acre estate, Riverdance, along the Thames this year, featuring sweeping lawn overlooking the riverbank, pond, natural stream, woodlands, grasslands and formal gardens.
Reintroducing over 100 of three new species of disease-resistant Dutch elm to Riverdance and creating a log wall made out of clay cylinders as habitats for wildlife.

What I’ve Learnt…

Listen well, but never compromise on your designs, whatever anyone wants or says.
Assemble the best possible team you can – always surround yourself with passionate people.
Quality, quality, quality before all.