When LAA caught up with landscape architect Richard Neville this month he was still buzzing from the opportunity he had to present as a keynote speaker at the New Zealand Gardens Trust conference earlier this year.

"My talk dove into the relationship we have with our environment, nature, gardens and each other. The question I wanted to pose is this: How can a changing cultural aesthetic have a positive influence on a world in desperate need of nourishment, empathy and care? It was inspired by Kathryn Gustafson’s visit to New Zealand last year and insights into the ways in which culture - seen and unseen - changes our perception," says Richard, who this month marks six years since going out on his own as Neville Design Studio.

Richard wrapped his NZ Gardens Trust presentation around his project with the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand (Heart Foundation), titled ‘Urban Orchard’ as created for the Heart Foundation in Ellerslie in 2023. The project presented a timely opportunity, says Richard, to explore the ideas of a changing cultural aesthetic – more wildness and maximum permeability.

Once it was clear that the Foundation was looking for more than a rudimentary design for the conversion of its discrete street-facing corner parking lot - immediately adjacent to its entrance area and Ripe Deli café - he applied an ecological lens to the 310 square metre site with a view to maximise both planting and permeability.

*The project site before work started. Photography: Richard Neville*

He also developed a clear narrative for "talking into the idea":

The narrative for the Urban Orchard starts at the meeting place of the NZ Heart Foundation and Ripe Deli. Platforms for healthy hearts, healthy food and healthy lives. What better way to celebrate these two entities than a space that celebrates life itself? (This) is a space that operates at the intersection of people and nature. An edible garden that illustrates a healthy relationship with each other, with food and with Papatūānuku. It provides life and food for people, bees, birds and all living organisms. A retreat from the concrete sprawl and endless impermeable surfaces. A place for the Heart Foundation to celebrate friends & whānau, peace of mind, community, possibility, life and love. A space that celebrates well-being and life.

Richard: "The challenge then is to translate this on to the land. For the Heart Foundation this involved the small sacrifice of five car parks, which, as it happened, gave way to a discretely placed bike-rack for five bicycles and seating for 40 people both in the open air and within a glasshouse setting".

When LAA approached the Heart Foundation for a comment on the difference the project has made, two years on, its senior project manager Colin Finch said that "transforming the under-utilised asphalt and concrete carpark into a welcoming garden has brought new life to our space. The garden has made it easier for us to connect with the community, providing a comfortable, inviting and attractive place for people to visit, relax, and engage with us".

Richard says a common thread to projects worked on collaboratively by Neville Design Studio is a "set of guiding values and principles that inform the ways spatial design and materiality come about". These values inform the outcome of the aesthetics - high diversity planting and locally sourced materials.

*Richard Neville's planting planning. (See the full list of 'ingredients' below).*

For the Heart Foundation project Richard's aim was to showcase landscape architecture that could deliver regenerative, revitalising and resilient results by flipping the proportion of conventional 'hardscape'. It was a small shift for them and a big gain for locals, including people who use the nearby rail connection.

"The time I was working on this coincided with the acute flooding of 2023 and a spike in awareness that even in the midst of our entrenched car culture we need to be more nature-based to adapt to climate change. It was a brutal reminder.

"Again, albeit on a micro-scale, I wanted this project to be a way of conveying the potential and possibility of responding to those needs and to highlight how we re-coat the surface of the earth makes a critical difference. Interestingly this project also highlighted how trade-offs around things like repurposing land given to previously hard-wired requirements for car park spaces requires good local policy. Good policy matters".

With his business now having just hit its six-year mark Richard enjoys the flexibility of working in tandem with other contracting companies and individuals. The team who worked on the Heart Foundation project, for instance, included Feature Landscapes (landscape build), Stellar Projects (resource consent), Winter Gardenz (glasshouse), Metalwerks (metal work), Advanced Electrical (lighting installation), Bryan Hall (recycled timber table work), and Carme Aguayo (photography).

*Project contributors gather together on a special opening day. Photography:* *Carme Aguayo*

Ten years ago the predecessor to LAA, Landscape Architecture New Zealand, published a profile of Richard in which he said that once he discovered his heart was in landscape architecture he hadn't looked back.

His love of landscape architecture has remained as strong as ever: "I love that with the help of on-site care and attention each project that we give birth to evolves and changes, but never really ends. For me that temporal and seasonal quality of landscape architecture is a defining difference from architecture, where the 'built form' remains static and technically speaking may only be at its best on the opening day".

To round off our catch-up, LAA asked Richard if he had a book on his shelves that he recommends to others. His swift reply was to recommend The Well Gardened Mind: Rediscovering Nature In The Modern World, by Sue Stuart-Smith (William Collins/ HarperCollins, 2021). He is also a fan of the marvellous array of writing at Wonderground, founded by Georgina Reid who was a speaker at the 2024 NZILA Firth Wānanga.

Sharing the love, left to right: Dave Saffil, Kate Saunders, Richard Neville, Mark Simpson, Dana Marsich, Colin Finch, Greg Snelgrove, Alice Phuong Bui, Todd Millar, Tempest Elisara, and Harley Robb with Chester the dog. *Photography:* *Carme Aguayo*

Planting lists for the 'URBAN Orchard' project

Shrubs and groundcovers: Achillea ‘The Beacon’; Arthropodium cirratum ‘Matapouri Bay’; Carex ‘Mitimiti’; Carex ‘Te Henga'; Carpodetus serratus ‘Prostrata’; Cordyline australis; Corokia ‘Green Sleeves’; Corokia cotoneaster; Corokia cotoneaster 'Red Wonder'; Corokia cotoneaster 'Yellow Wonder'; Euphorbia glauca; Ficinia nodosa; Hebe ‘Wiri Mist’; Hibiscus richardsonii; Mazus radicans; Muehlenbeckia axillaris; Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’; Selliera radicans; Xeronema callistemon

Fruit Trees: Apple ‘Granny Smith’; Apple ‘Lady in Red’; Lime 'Bearss'; Nectarine ‘Red Gold’; Olea europaea; Peach ‘Golden Queen’; Peach ‘Gordon’s Glory’; Pear ‘Packham’s Triumph’; Pear ‘Taylor’s Gold’; Plum ‘Black Amber’; Plum ‘Santa Rosa’.

Herbs in the Garden: chamomile 'German'; chives; chives garlic; globe artichoke; oregano 'True Greek'; oregano common; rosemary 'Gorizia'; Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Lockwood de Forest’; rosemary 'September Blue'; rosemary upright; sage common; sage purple; stevia (leaves are a natural sweetener and sugar substitute); thyme 'Emerald Carpet'; thyme 'Pizza'; thyme common; thyme lemon; thyme lemon variegated; thyme silver; thyme woolly; winter savoury.

In the Glasshouse: tomato 'Sweet 100' (from seed); basil (from seed); thyme common; chives; grape ‘Candice Seedless’; sage purple; sage common; mint common; nasturtium (edible flowers); borage (edible flowers); parsley 'Italian'.

Landscape architecture with heart

Planting lists for the 'URBAN Orchard' project

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