World Heritage UK’s President Chris Blandford was awarded the OBE in The King’s New Year Honours list 2024.
Chris is a World Heritage Specialist, Master Planner and Landscape Architect whose career spans 45 years. He trained as a landscape architect and environmental planner in both the UK and the USA and established the CBA Studios Consultancy in 1977. Over the next 30 years his visionary and influential work for private and public clients attracted many awards for excellence and innovation in landscape planning and design. During the 2000s Chris led the international work of the practice in the Middle and Far East, India, and the North Africa.
During the 90s and beyond Chris became increasingly involved with the now more strongly emerging heritage conservation sector. Working at different scales, he undertook a variety of roles including leading projects for the restoration, conservation, and management of historic landscapes or destinations on the one hand, while providing strategic and policy advice to government and agencies on the other. Much of his work in this period was focused on the nomination, management, and planning of over 25 potential and actual World Heritage Sites in the UK and Overseas – driven by a passion and deep commitment to the World Heritage concept which continues to the present day.
Following retirement in 2017 and in a voluntary capacity, Chris has continued to work in the charitable sector proactively providing leadership, technical, management, and advocacy advice to NGOs and on their behalf to Government Departments. These organisations and roles include World Heritage UK (President), The Gardens Trust (Vice Chair), and the Design Review Panel of the South Downs National Park (Vice Chair), and the European World Heritage Associations Network.
Many congratulations Chris!