Education Archives • Orterra

Water Sensitive Urban Design

October 2, 2023November 17, 2023 administratorEducation, Environment, Infrastructure

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is a concept that’s appearing more and more in local government planning policies across Australia, and rightfully so. It’s a concept that Orterra have embraced for many years because it just makes sense, for the environment as well as for the individual projects we design and deliver. Did you know that Biodiversity is one of our key values as an organisation? You can see all of our values and how we define them right here, but basically, our work has a focus on improving, rehabilitating and regenerating the biodiversity and the environment of our projects. […]

The Role of Environmental Design in Preventing Crime

July 3, 2023October 22, 2023 administratorEducation, Environment, Infrastructure, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

Did you know that the design of outdoor spaces plays a significant role in the occurrence of crime? It’s actually a concept we’ve long employed in our work with local government and developers in creating new urban landscapes. It is guided by a set of principles based on extensive research from across the globe. It even has its own acronym – CPTED What is CPTED? Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, or CPTED, is exactly that: creating a space that feels safe, so that people can make use of it. Sometimes referred to as Designing Out Crime, it’s multidisciplinary and integrates […]

Teenage Girl Spaces – where do our teenage girls fit?

May 10, 2023October 22, 2023 administratorEducation, Environment, Infrastructure

Teenage girls are in a tricky situation. They’ve well and truly outgrown the play equipment and the public parks earmarked for their age group – skateparks and sports and recreation fields – are undeniably over-representatively taken up by boys, metaphorically and literally man-spreading. The lack of suitable and appealing outdoor public spaces for girls is not a new phenomenon, but it is one that we are determined to address in our work as landscape architects. Research tells us that girls use spaces to chat, socialise, linger and connect. Girls schools are leading the way in creating outdoor areas with multi-level […]

Play Matters – The Impact of Landscapes on Play

January 25, 2023January 25, 2023 debbieEducation, Nature Play

The garden at Coombe in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, once the home of Dame Nellie Melba, is 7+ acres of incredible gardens, including a hedge with a tunnel to a secret garden, where reportedly Dame Nellie’s grandchild loved to play. Wouldn’t that be an incredible childhood memory? Studies over generations have shown the benefits that play of all forms brings to children. We know that outdoor play in particular supports physical activity, a love of nature, language development, creativity, problem solving skills and negotiation. It supports imagination, self-expression and impulse-control. You just have to quietly observe a group of kindergarten children […]

The Year That was 2022

November 29, 2022November 25, 2022 debbieAbout Orterra, Education, Environment, Garden Design, Infrastructure, Residential

It’s been a year- this has been a challenging year hear at Orterra. We have had some amazing highs and some lows. We have been a bit quiet on the blog front lately. I know we generally like to give your great content consistently however, we have been very busy creating some amazing designs over the last few months for our clients and as we don’t like to provide you with terrible content hence we have let this slide a bit. But don’t worry we have been planning and there are some great things in the pipeline for next year. […]

To Answer your Question here is our Design Philosophy

July 27, 2022August 1, 2022 debbieAbout Orterra, Education, Infrastructure, Property Development and Commercial, Residential

We often get asked by our clients what is your design philosophy? So, today I wanted to dive a bit deeper into this question of design philosophy and what it means to us here at Orterra. Places People Love That is our philosophy. It is that simple. But what I will do is break it down for you a little more to get to the core of this statement. A philosophy is “a particular system of beliefs, values, and principles.” We here at Orterra have very clear values here that we work from that underpin our design philosophy. Equality Inclusion Empathy Diversity Biodiversity Transparency We use […]

No One Wants Rubbish Bins at their Front Door

March 9, 2022March 4, 2022 debbieEducation, Garden Design, Property Development and Commercial, Residential

Today I am going to talk to you about rubbish bins, and rubbish collection. Rubbish is not the most sophisticated topic for a blog, however, it is probably one of the most talked-about topics during projects. This applies to schools, residential, subdivisions, or commercial. How to deal with rubbish and recycling can make or break the project. There is nothing worse for us than going to a new client’s house after they have designed their dream home and asking, have you thought about where you would like to put the rubbish bins? The look of shock on their faces and […]

Herbs And Vegetables That Are Great To Plant In Autumn

February 23, 2022February 23, 2022 debbieEducation, Garden Design, Residential

Fresh vegetables and herbs straight from your garden are up there with some of the best things in life. You get to reap the benefits of the fresh flavours in your home-cooked meals while saving money on store-bought food. Here is a quick guide as to what to plant in your edible garden this autumn for sub-tropical regions. What Vegetables should I Plant? First of all, depending on your available space, pick what will fit in your garden and only plant what you like to eat. Here are 10 of our favourite vegetables to plant in autumn: Carrots Radish Lettuce […]

Four Things to Look for in an Outdoor Classroom

February 8, 2022February 8, 2022 debbieEducation, Nature Play

What makes a good place for an outdoor classroom? What do you need to make it successful? Below we talk through 4 things to look for when you are considering spaces to your as outdoor classrooms. They are important factors that when combined create some amazing environments for students to learn. Location As the saying goes “location, location, location”. This is the same for teaching spaces. Does the area have good access so all students can get there? Is the area right next to another class indoors? Does this area echo and is it going to cause disruption to other […]

Teaching Outdoors Made Easier With These 5 Items Under $100

January 26, 2022January 26, 2022 debbieEducation, Nature Play

Here at Orterra, we are massive advocates for teaching outdoors. The benefits of teaching outdoors are amazing for children. Here, we will give a brief discussion of some of the benefits of teaching outside. While looking at 5 items under $100 that might make things easier for you. The Benefits Of Teaching Outdoors There are strong links between spending time outdoors and personal health. Children that are taught outdoors have increased academic performance, attention spans, engagement, and enthusiasm during classes. It builds on their sensory stimulation, social skills, movement, physical activity, teamwork, and confidence. All while growing their […]