Replicating the conventions of a print format, such as giving space to sidebars and special columns , can be a difficult challenge for digital ‘magazines’ wanting to bring content into view to cover as many bases as it can.

This month LAA is introducing a newswire-type approach that will mix together local ‘newsbriefs’ of many types from many sources, including sector-specific social media channels from around the motu. Let’s call it sharing the aroha.

If you can point us to items like the ones below - consisting primarily of a photo/s with brief captions - please send them to laaotearoa@nzila.co.nz

the laa newswire #1

Tū Tangata! Standing Strong

*Graduate Landscape Architects Sarah Cantillon and Kees Liefting - on day one, and … still standing by month two!*

Studio Pacific Aotearoa has welcomed two Graduate Landscape Architects, Sarah Cantillon and Kees Liefting - who originally hail from Whanganui and Hastings - to their Te Whanganui-a-Tara studio.

As frequently covered in LAA, many landscape architects enter the profession from a diversity of backgrounds and earlier career choices.

Sarah, for instance, went into the world of fashion and marketing after completing a BDesign (with Honours) from Massey University in 2012. She went on to work in London for several years, and, but for Covid says she might well have “spent the rest of my life there”.

Back in New Zealand she began feeling less enamoured with her field of work, so reached out for a talk with acquaintance Kate Blackburne at SPA about taking up landscape architecture. Kate - herself now a Senior Associate Landscape Architect with SPA - obviously made a compelling case!

Although Kees (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga) arrived straight into landscape architecture studies from secondary school, he says his passions for the outdoors and hands-on mahi could just as easily have seen him pursuing a career as a DOC ranger or similar. Discovering in his first year at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University that landscape architecture “was a thing” was fortuitous.

Talking with LAA, Sarah and Kees expressed a common gratitude for landing a job not long after finishing their MLA studies. Both considered that delivering on their chosen research thesis topics contributed to their achieving a ‘foot in the door’.

Sarah is now happily “soaking up as much as possible every day” including mastering new software tools, and Kees says working in a studio is proving to be a “great place to learn”.

As well as gaining exposure to the wider contexts that surround the design of public spaces and urban planning, they’re both enjoying the scope they have for applying their transferable skills - such as Sarah’s strengths in visual communication. Kees: “I narrow down what we do to telling people we design places for people”.

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Sarah’s research thesis Of This Place encompassed development of a digital planting guide and a site-based design intervention at Pukenamu/ Queen’s Park in Whanganui. These approaches examine how biodiversity literacy can be strengthened through tools and landscapes that reconnect people with their local environment. It is available at openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz
Kees’ research thesis Hononga: Exploring connections between people, land, and sky through day and night drew upon the cosmological whakapapa of te ao Māori to connect people with Te Whānau Mārama (the celestial family of light), and the knowledge structures that bind the sun, moon, and stars with people, and land. It is available at openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz

Studio culture: Mahia te Mahi

Mahia te Mahi is an annual day when Isthmus step out of the studio, and give back to the environments they love. As stated on their Insta account:

It's a moment to stop, slow down, reflect and breathe. It's also a chance to see the benefit that revegetation work does in restoring and protecting our native flora. Local projects are selected to align with our values, build relationships and benefit the health and wellbeing of people and planet. This year our Tāmaki studio gave back to Motuihe island restoration trust where we have been involved for many years. Our Te Whanganui a Tara also gave back to Baring Head & our Ōtautahi studio at Mugford Reserve.

Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata.
When the land is well, the people are well.
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The Motuihe project marked its 25th anniversary in November last year. Motuihe / Te Motu-a-Ihenga island was declared pest free in 2005. You can follow related activity on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

What does a Landscape Architect do?

In recognition of World Landscape Architecture Month earlier this year, the team at Bespoke Landscape Architecture gathered together a set of thoughts on “who we are and what we do—captured through words and images”.

The accompanying narrative - posted on Instagram - says:

Landscape architects are often the unseen layer of a project. Many people experience our work every day without realising it, yet we play a vital role in shaping places that are resilient, foster human connection, and bring people closer to nature and to each other.
The best landscapes don’t demand attention—they feel effortless, intuitive, and timeless. Behind that simplicity is careful thought, collaboration, and a quiet dedication to making spaces work seamlessly.
We may work in the background, but our impact is all around you.

From Boffa Miskell’s archive

Boffa Miskell has been highlighting its extensive archive of mahi on its Instagram account across diverse projects - from Long Bay above to Brynderwyn Quarry below.

As Auckland's Long Bay community began taking shape, our team delivered the landscape master planning, ecological restoration and public realm design that underpins the development today.

The project integrated stream and wetland restoration, habitat creation, stormwater management and connected open spaces to create a healthier catchment and a more liveable neighbourhood. Native planting, rain gardens and ecological corridors were all part of a wider vision to bring people and nature together in a growing urban environment.

A great example of how landscape architecture, ecology and urban design can work hand in hand.

Protecting native species while supporting quarry operations

Before quarrying could continue at Brynderwyn Quarry, a different kind of fieldwork had to happen.
Working alongside Atlas Quarries, Department of Conservation and Te Uri o Hau, our team provided planning and ecological advice to support resource consents, wildlife permits, and on-the-ground ecological management. Iwi were involved throughout the survey and salvage process, helping field teams locate, protect and relocate species including native lizards and kauri snails (pūpurangi).
The work required careful coordination to meet environmental requirements while enabling ongoing quarry operations. Through ecological surveys, wildlife salvage programmes, and with specialist planning advice, cutting edge pest management design and new technology, the project balanced operational needs with the protection of native species and habitats.
A great example of the collaboration, care and expertise that often happens behind the scenes before works can begin.

A ten year milestone

by Stephen Olsen, LAA curator and lead writer (since 2024/5)

This month - July 2026 - marks a 10th anniversary since Landscape Architecture Aotearoa transitioned to its standalone digital-only life from being a ‘print entity’ that had been commercially produced by AGM Publishing for 20 years (1996-2016).

It initially took 16 months before a editorial direction - using external content supports - was bedded in. Those first months were highly dependent on a small number of member-authors associated with Tuia Pito Ora New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects - harking back in some ways to the institute’s first longstanding newsletter The Landscape (1976-1994)

The pattern adopted since 2017 - while still calling on contributions from individuals and companies - turned more towards gathering general news on issues affecting the profession, as well as a variety of updates from across the practice of landscape architecture here in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.

As part of this 10-year milestone, we are planning a series of articles that will revisit some of the key themes and topics covered between 2016-2026. This will entail looking back through LAA’s online archive - all searchable on this site and also scrollable under All Stories.

Landscape IS everywhere. We even have a 10th anniversary catchline that says just that!

Landscape Architects today: Everywhere you look