Public Spaces and Commercial
Public Spaces and Commercial Landscapes
Our team is responsible for creating uplifting public space design and commercial landscape design throughout the Canterbury region and beyond. With experience in large and small scale schemes, we collaborate with the countryâs leading architects to deliver great outcomes for our clients and the community.
Public Space Design
Public spaces are where the community comes together to interact. Designing public spaces to be inclusive, accessible and safe for everyone will encourage people to stay longer and come back again - humans are creatures of comfort after all.
Public spaces should reflect our community and express a sense of place and identity. As spaces we live, work, and play within, they become a layering of land, people and culture. This can occur through taking the time to understand the site's context and local ecosystem, creatively telling our stories and integrating cultural narratives. Each public space is unique, so the design response should embrace that individuality.
Commercial Landscapes
Commercial landscapes provide the opportunity for businesses to express their brand and ethos. They can add vibrancy and create a welcoming space to attract clients and visitors, while also providing comfortable spaces for the staff.
Functionality and practicality are important to ensure the landscaped spaces are easily accessible, hard wearing and low maintenance. Commercial landscapes also allow businesses to champion sustainability through adding biodiversity, installing low impact drainage systems and selecting materials carefully.
Our recent work
The Court Theatre, in the heart of the Christchurch Performing Arts Precinct has interactive and fun spaces for everyone, designed in collaboration with mana whenua and Gap Filler. (Image: Athfield Architects)
The Court Theatre and Performing Arts Precinct's new central courtyard includes interactive sculptures and spaces to relax in the sun.
The Woolston Community Library creates adaptive and inviting outdoor spaces which flow seamlessly with the building.
The Lyttelton Port Company commercial building landscape reflects the local maritime vernacular through industrial materiality.
The native planting at Lyttelton Port reflects the local coastal ecosystem.
The St John Hub in Cromwell surrounds the site with immersive planting with edibles for the staff to enjoy.
Some of the things we can help you with
When starting the design of a public or commercial landscape, here are some things we can assist you with:
Establishing a collaborative project team - working with architects, engineers and quantity surveyors.
Developing an understanding of the context, architectural design style and site conditions.
Developing hard landscape ideas and planting concepts that reflect place and people.
Prioritising pedestrians and cyclists with safe, accessible circulation and integrating BarrierFree and CPTED design principles (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design).
Creating durable and low maintenance landscapes with vibrant yet robust plantings and drought tolerant species, as alternatives to lawn.
Using sustainable water and drainage systems including rain gardens, swales and attenuation basins to provide future resilience during storm and flood events.
Designing low carbon landscapes which can meet targets for programmes like Green Star.
