Paul Nicolaides

42 Woodford Crescent,Pinner, Middlesex, HA5 3TX
Email: paulnicolaides@eco-spaces.co.uk
                                             Mobile:  07894306379 

 Landscape designer with 10 years experience in construction techniques and project management. Experience spans from commercial schemes including schools, public parks, sports facilities and ecological mitigation to private gardens encompassing a wide range of styles with bespoke finishes.  In 2010 founded a landscape design and build company during deep recession going on to win a community, architectural and design award in the summer of 2014. Has a one hundred percent success rate at winning landscape projects in the commercial sector when interviewed against other competitors. Currently seeking to expand knowledge and experience in larger landscape architectural practice and become familiar with professional processes with a chartership narrative.  

Employment

March 2010 - to present
Managing Director 
Ecospaces Limited

Worked on and managed numerous landscape schemes including the design and build of seventeen school contracts. Sub-contracted to larger principle contractors, Gavin Jones, projects included the Olympic Park, Chelsea FC training ground and Roman Abramovich’s residence in Surrey.

Main Tasks
  • The carrying out of all company office operations including; providing written quotations to clients, Invoicing for completed work, filling out PQQ’s and tendering for new projects, completing contractor returns, paying staff wages providing wage slips and preparing monthly paperwork for accountant.

  •  Contracts management of all projects, organising onsite materials and logistics.

  • Site surveys and putting together design proposals and solutions using software such as Autocad 2014, Photoshop CS and Sketchup.

  •  Ongoing research of sustainable landscape construction and identifying niche markets to develop as new company services.

  • Company PR including marketing campaigns utilising Google, social media such as Facebook, creating videos, magazine advertisements and producing visual case studies to promote sustainable landscape types.

    
June 2008 – February 2010
Landscape Designer / Foreman 
Visible Changes Limited

Main Tasks
  • Design of school grounds, public parks, private estates and gardens drawing up schedules of works for each design to quantify all elements of those designs.

  • Liaising with Landscape Architects, main contractors and various clients to explore onsite construction solutions to designs issues.

  • Oversee the physical construction of landscape designs and specifications.

  • Creation of detailed drawings in Auto Cad from site surveys, to fully rendered designs and planting plans.

  • Species selection for various planting areas including very extreme microclimates, naturalistic habitats, exposed expanses and dark enclosed inner city environments. All species would be specified on detailed planting plans in Autocad.

          
May 2006 – August 2007
Project Manager / Landscape Designer
R&J Construction

The implementation of landscape projects from plan to completion, coordinating a small team building high specification projects.

Education

September 2007 – June 2008                                                                                  
Diploma Landscape Architecture
University of Greenwich

September 2003 – May 2006                                       
BA Hon’s Landscape Architecture. 
University of Greenwich

Skills

  • Thorough, holistic operational knowledge of windows operation systems and relevant software including Autocad 2014, Sketchup, Adobe Photoshop CSS, Microsoft excel, word, and Powerpoint

  • A passionate character who is always enthusiastic and strives to see the world through others eyes  as well as his own

  • A great public speaker and communicator who aims to engage audiences in a captivating manner. Is annually asked to give a talk to a national group who investigate the establishment of alien species within the UK’s landscape.

  • A full clean UK driving license

  • An extensive knowledge of horticulture with extensive experience of plants including Latin names

Interests 

Gardening, Permaculture, Indian cooking, keeping chickens, wine making, preserving, DIY, wildlife tracking, and Shotokan karate, I am currently brown belt, training for black, which I am hoping to earn in 2015.

Reverences available on request.