As Executive Chairman of Glascott Landscape & Civil and Marsupial Landscape Management, Matthew Glascott (Syndicate 44) started The Glascott Group three decades ago with a commitment to creating beautiful spaces. As a leader in its field, the company has been part of some of Australia’s most significant and iconic landscape projects, from ovals and amenity buildings, parks, and playgrounds to heritage restorations and large-scale infrastructure to create public and commercial outdoor spaces that seamlessly blend architecture with the environment.
Matthew’s passion for the environment started as a child spending a lot of time in the garden with his father. An early interest in plants, the garden and horticulture was sparked and inspired by his father, who was the very first journalist in Sydney to cover the environment and conservation issues. Matthew says, “In the 70’s, climate change and sustainability were not popular issues that were regularly covered, and as the environmental journalist, my father brought an early awareness that did not truly enter the public psyche until the 80’s”.
Sharing a family love for the outdoors with his parents both having grown up in the country, Matthew decided that he would translate his love for farm life and the land to a career. “Having been a reasonably good art student at school, I thought I would go into something more creative than sitting behind a desk. I decided to go study landscape design and horticulture as a way of combining my passions to pursue a career. I picked up my wheelbarrow, did my course, and went from there,” says Matthew.
The Glascott Group is distinguished not only by its sustainable, enduring and forward-looking projects, but the fact that they are one of a very few in the landscaping space to do civil engineering as well. They work with development corporations, leading architects and the community to deliver impressive projects. A recent project, the transformation of waterfront land into a new public domain in Newcastle, featured restored maritime artifacts, outdoor amenities and native planting, which resulted in a stunning park that complements the foreshore and delivers significant community benefits.
In the past decade, both the public and private sectors have been interested in establishing these types of extensive and engaging outdoor spaces. Matthew notes that there has been a discernible shift in not only how people in general view issues such as climate change and sustainability, but by the government in particular. “A lot of the sizeable projects Glascott is involved with today are funded by the federal and state governments. As a company, we have been very lucky that through the pandemic, some really great projects have come through that have helped alleviate the economic impact".
In the last ten years, Glascott Group has been able to build many fantastic parks, gardens and infrastructure projects such as the Coal Loader at Waverton, Cockatoo Island in the Sydney Harbour, 13km of the Northwest Metro and stations, and Gore Hill Oval and playground at St Leonards.
Many of the environmental projects for government have been sizeable in scope and speak of an increased interest in how outdoor spaces can have a multi-layered impact on the community. “That’s a great thing because it’s easy to convince people that making open spaces will have a positive impact on the community. It’s really a win-win for everybody,” says Matthew.
During the lockdown, there was real uncertainty at Glascott Group in what the future would look like. Building sites were temporarily stopped, and the cost of materials increased exponentially, an effect that continues to this day, “We are responsible for 200 employees, and were worried about keeping our heads above water. At the end of the day, our staff are our assets, and we are only as good as our people”.
“We were fortunate that the government offered some assistance, however we were one of the few industries that were able to continue, but with some restrictions. It has been a difficult couple of years for everyone, but we managed to keep the business momentum going and are moving towards being back to full capacity,” notes Matthew.
Using China and the United States as an example, Matthew points to how overdevelopment can negatively impact society, “I believe as a young country, we have the luxury of looking to other countries for examples of how not to proceed. With so much development taking place, we are fortunate that we have been able to protect some of our natural environment and foreshore open spaces.
“When you go to new estates, it's the open and green spaces that can serve as a backyard for the residents. They are essential spaces for people to enjoy by being outside and taking advantage of nature”.
Of all the many areas of landscaping, parks and gardens are Matthew’s favourite areas to work in. “There are so many wonderful pocket parks in inner Sydney. Sydney City Council has worked on establishing space for these plots, and it’s a real pleasure to visit them years later and see how the community has embraced them. They tend to their own plots and grow their own vegetables. For many people who live in the city, these spaces become a community meeting spot, and entire families sometimes tend and maintain them through the years”.
Looking at trends in the landscape future, Matthew sees a continuation and growing interests in developing and expanding green, open spaces, “Considering the development trends of rooftop gardens and green walls, landscapers seem more focused than ever on responding to clients’ desire to incorporate more in their design”.
“Ten years ago, developers did not budget to include quality design for open spaces. Today, the story is quite different, as everyone in the community values their environment and developers have bigger budgets because they see the value in creating beautiful green areas for the communities”.
In the upcoming years, Matthew would like to expand the maintenance side of the business and has been considering acquisitions and mergers. Already covering the Eastern States of Australia, Matthew is focused on making all these centres continue to hum along successfully. “It takes time to build a great business and get the right people and the right mix,” Mathew says.
Aside from his role at Glascott Landscape and Civil, Matthew is a Director of Foundation & Friends of the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens, whose mission is to build a thriving community that supports horticulture, scientific research, conservation and education programs in Botanic Gardens.
Matthew has been a member of The CEO Syndicate for many years, having been introduced to the organisation by a family member. He notes that being the head of the company can be quite lonely, “I’m never really one to take work home, and it can be difficult to confide in employees, so I wanted a sounding board to talk about my journey as a CEO and business leader and hear what other people are experiencing. It gives me comfort to know that people are dealing with similar issues, and we can serve as a confidential source of support for each other. It’s a vehicle that gives me great support”.
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