Landscapes that work as hard as they look: storing water, restoring habitat and bringing people together

Merton Meadows Village, Hereford

See our work
Where a thousand years of thinking meet the next hundred years of making: a 30 ha vision for Oxford’s West End

Oxford West End Vision, Oxford

See our work
From 13th-century friary to modern high street, now reimagined as Bristol’s cultural heart, with new civic space for performance and everyday life

Quakers Exchange, Bristol

See our work
London’s first inland surf destination, opening private Green Belt land as a public park for health, ecology and community

Surf London, Enfield

See our work
Squares, bridges and planting that carry Bristol’s aviation heritage into a new public quarter around a 20,000-capacity arena

Aviva Arena, Bristol

See our work

Finalist · Pineapple Awards 2026 — Future Place
Finalist · Landscape Institute Awards 2026 — Excellence in Planning and Assessment
Finalist · Landscape Institute Awards 2026 — Excellence in Masterplanning & Urban Design

RECOGNITION

Hammerson · YTL Developments · National Trust · Crest Experiences · Oxford City Council · Oxfordshire County Council · Bristol Business Improvement District · Herefordshire Council · London Borough of Newham · Barratt London · Great Malvern Priory

WORKING WITH

Making Our Own Way in Design

Independent, director-led and deliberately selective. We take on fewer projects so we can go deeper, using story and systems thinking to shape places that work for people and nature.

Making Our Own Way in Design

Independent, director-led and deliberately selective. We take on fewer projects so we can go deeper, using story and systems thinking to shape places that work for people and nature.

FEATURED PROJECT

Surf London

London’s first inland surf and active-leisure destination: a landscape-led park on former private Green Belt land in Enfield.

22.6 ha

Green Belt opened to the public

25%

Biodiversity Net Gain

93%

Public support

Explore Surf London

Selected Work

Bristol BID Green & Blue Vision

A 250 ha green and blue infrastructure vision for Bristol city centre.
North Woolwich SRF

A 75 ha regeneration framework for North Woolwich, where communities and enterprise grow together.
Mon to Brec Vision

A 35-mile green corridor along the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal, for the National Trust.
Silverthorne Lane

Terraced rain gardens and a canal walkway for the University of Bristol’s innovation hub at Temple Quarter.
Brabazon City Green

The new heart of Bristol’s Brabazon district: a multi-level public space on a former airfield, linking the new station, park and YTL Arena.

View all Projects

Stories that shape place

Every project starts with the stories behind a place. Four lenses guide how we read a site.

01

How people move through a place, reading patterns of time and rhythm as design cues.

Choreographies of Time

02

The everyday culture and community character that make a street or neighbourhood its own.

Voices of Place

A wall filled with colorful sticky notes, drawings, and sketches. Some notes have handwritten messages with hearts and doodles.

03

Materials, planting and seasonal change, designing with the living systems of a site.

Nature’s Rhythms

04

Historic layers expressed through texture, landform and the traces a place already holds.

Layers of Memory

Abstract illustration of various tropical leaves in shades of brown, green, and beige.

Founded by Michael and Kate Cowdy, MOOWD is rooted between Bristol city’s creative environment and the coastal landscapes of Clevedon. Around two decades of practice across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia inform work shaped through design, dialogue and shared propose.

Between the city and the coast

THE STUDIO

MOOWD founders Michael and Kate Cowdy standing on the mudflats of the Severn Estuary at Clevedon

Meet the studio

MOOWD Stories

Making Ground: How Culture Reshapes Place

A reflection on Bristol, culture and how streets, shared spaces and everyday life make a city.
The Rise of Regenerative Leisure

How can leisure restore the land it occupies? Surf London redefines recreation as regeneration.

All stories

Landscapes that work as hard as they look: storing water, restoring habitat and bringing people together

Where a thousand years of thinking meet the next hundred years of making: a 30 ha vision for Oxford’s West End

From 13th-century friary to modern high street, now reimagined as Bristol’s cultural heart, with new civic space for performance and everyday life

London’s first inland surf destination, opening private Green Belt land as a public park for health, ecology and community

Squares, bridges and planting that carry Bristol’s aviation heritage into a new public quarter around a 20,000-capacity arena

Making Our Own Way in Design

Independent, director-led and deliberately selective. We take on fewer projects so we can go deeper, using story and systems thinking to shape places that work for people and nature.

Making Our Own Way in Design

Independent, director-led and deliberately selective. We take on fewer projects so we can go deeper, using story and systems thinking to shape places that work for people and nature.

Surf London

London’s first inland surf and active-leisure destination: a landscape-led park on former private Green Belt land in Enfield.

22.6 ha

25%

93%

Bristol BID Green & Blue Vision

North Woolwich SRF

Mon to Brec Vision

Silverthorne Lane

Brabazon City Green

Stories that shape place

Every project starts with the stories behind a place. Four lenses guide how we read a site.

Choreographies of Time

Voices of Place

Nature’s Rhythms

Layers of Memory

Founded by Michael and Kate Cowdy, MOOWD is rooted between Bristol city’s creative environment and the coastal landscapes of Clevedon. Around two decades of practice across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia inform work shaped through design, dialogue and shared propose.

Between the city and the coast

Making Ground: How Culture Reshapes Place

The Rise of Regenerative Leisure