Designing with Country
Our work commits to finding pathways to truth telling, healing of Country and bringing benefit for First Nations people, always with the aim of reconciliation. We avoid token gestures, such as later stage add ons. Country guides the first design concepts and carries through to completion, and beyond.
The Cutaway, Barangaroo
Codesigned with Bangawarra, led by D’harawal Knowledge Keeper Dr Shannon Foster, and artist Jake Nash.
The Cutaway, Barangaroo
Timber trees reference the Damun, the Port Jackson fig, known as the knowledge tree.
Our Approach
Listen, acknowledge and learn
We start on Country, with immersive visits led by Knowledge Holders, and engage First Nations Elders and communities from project inception. Early workshops, deep listening and a thorough analysis of local Country, cultural plans and heritage studies set a foundation of respect that continues through design and delivery.
A studio wide framework of Principles
Led by Corey Kenny, our First Nations Designer and Darkinjung Man, the studio supports a series of principles to guide all phases of design and delivery. Informed by our broadening experience of Designing with Country, and by the NSWGA Connecting with Country Framework, our principles offer both high level aspirations and objectives as well as detailed, gradable performance criteria.
Map and understand Country
We map the physical and intangible layers of a place: topography, soils, water, ecology, cultural landscapes and seasonal cycles. With our collaborators, we identify the themes and stories that guide each project from inception to completion. This shared understanding gives every design decision a clear reference back to Country.
Co-design with Country
Knowledge Holders, Traditional Owners and Elders join the design process as key collaborators, not as reviewers at the end. Country is treated as a living stakeholder, and its values of custodianship, continuity and reciprocity inform spatial and material choices, from the arrangement of a site to the selection of plants, materials and details.
Embed and translate
Narratives move into architecture, landscape, interiors and spatial programme. Decisions at every scale, from site planning to detail, respect ecological and cultural values, drawing on our multidisciplinary studio. Because our disciplines work as one team, the stories identified with Knowledge Holders are carried consistently through buildings, public spaces and interiors.
Reflect, steward and continue
We design for adaptation and regeneration, so Country can evolve with the place. Cultural protocols for care, seasonal use and storytelling support First Nations participation in the life of each place beyond completion. Planting, water and landscapes are planned to strengthen over time, so the health of Country continues to grow.
Art strategies
We develop art strategies that place First Nations artists at the centre, from curated selection processes and public art committees to commissions integrated into the architecture and public domain. Artists are engaged early, so their work shapes each place from the first concepts rather than being added once the design is fixed.
Connecting with Country
Our process aligns with the Government Architect NSW Connecting with Country framework, working towards healthy Country, healthy community, the protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage, cultural competency and better places. The framework gives clients, Knowledge Holders and design teams a shared language, and helps each project show how Country has shaped its outcomes.
For further information about Designing with Country, please enquire by email. You can also explore our art strategies.