landscape design Archives • Orterra

2023 in a Nutshell

November 28, 2023 administratorAbout Orterra

Where to start! We have had an amazing year at Orterra, we have moved office and have gone from a one-room office to having a much bigger space with meeting rooms and lunch space! We’ve also grown from a team of 2 to a team of 5. We have completed many projects this year. We have travelled all over Queensland for projects from Mackay to the Gold Coast so don’t think we won’t come to you. We have been working hard on our Innovate RAP which are hoping to be able to have endorsed next year and we have been […]

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. […]

Bee-Friendly Spaces

September 1, 2023October 22, 2023 administratorUncategorized

We just hit ‘send’ on a wonderful project – a bee friendly space. It’s not our first, and thankfully with the growing awareness of the threat posed by bee extinction, it certainly won’t be our last. Designing bee-friendly spaces are the type of projects that we absolutely love here at Orterra because it’s a chance to collaborate with incredible people such as apiarists as we work towards thriving bee populations across Australia. Bees are essential – full stop! Bees are critically important, no doubt about it. We know that from a biodiversity and ecological perspective that bees play a vital […]

Bringing all 7 Senses to life through Design

August 1, 2023October 22, 2023 administratorUncategorized

What are the 7 senses? Outdoor spaces are those where all of the senses are heightened. How could they not be? There could be beautifully scented blooms, the sound of wind moving through trees, the cool of a shaded garden, the taste of a herb or a vine-ripened cherry tomato as well as the feel of grass underfoot. There’s the five senses in one paragraph! However, it’s a misconception that we only have five senses. Just like the seven deadly sins and their corresponding heavenly virtues, we have seven senses to take advantage of in our landscape design. All seven […]

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 […]

The Role of Green Infrastructure in Biodiversity

June 1, 2023November 23, 2023 administratorEnvironment, Infrastructure, Property Development and Commercial

Biodiversity is essential to thriving communities, yet, we are losing biodiversity at alarming rates. Green infrastructure is a way to protect, maintain and increase the biodiversity in our urban landscapes and is one which requires a considered planning and design approach. We wrote about green infrastructure here, but as we shared, there’s no real clear definition. The description most aligned to the Orterra philosophy is this one created by the European Commission: “Green infrastructure is a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services such as water […]

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 […]

Why is Seating so Important in a Design?

January 14, 2022February 23, 2022 debbieEducation, Garden Design, Infrastructure, Nature Play, Podium Landscape Design, Property Development and Commercial, Residential

One of my favourite all-time design quotes is by a man called William H Whyte. He did a famous study on public spaces back in the 1970s that looked at how people use space. The best quote out of the whole study is “People tend to sit where there are places to sit” Now the beauty of this statement is in the simplicity of the idea. You sit where there are seats. Now you might be thinking well that’s obvious and why are you telling me? When it comes to designing places, public places, parks, schools, your garden. The importance […]

How Did I Become a Landscape Architect?

November 2, 2021November 2, 2021 debbieAbout Orterra, Education, Environment

It all started a few years ago now when I was studying science at university with the intention to be a vet. I had desperately wanted to work as a vet since my grade 10 work experience. I was hooked when I saw my first operation on a baby lama the day I arrived. However, years later while working towards this goal at university it changed. I was in the middle of an animal anatomy subject standing there cutting up a calf fetus. I realised this is not what I want to do anymore. So, as you do in life […]