Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor spaces to create functional, aesthetic, and sustainable environments. While many people travel to experience nature in mountains or forests, landscape architects bring those benefits into our everyday environments.

Their goal is not only to create spaces that are beautiful and usable, but also environments that promote sustainability and healing. Many of these professionals even specify Large Outdoor Planters like ours at Sigma Planters to help bring structure, greenery, and life into their designs.

It has been 10 years since we did our original article which you can view here.

Here are some of the most influential and famous landscape architects in Australia for 2025.

1. Kate Cullity

Kate Cullity is the co-founder of Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TCL) @TCL_studio, known for her unique ability to fuse science, art, and storytelling into powerful landscape designs. With a background in botany and environmental studies, Cullity has brought emotional depth and ecological richness to numerous high-profile projects across Australia.

Cullity’s design philosophy is rooted in a deep respect for ecology, a sensitivity to cultural narratives, and a desire to create emotionally resonant landscapes. With a background in botany, environmental studies, and art, she brings a multidisciplinary lens to landscape architecture — blending science, symbolism, and storytelling into her projects.

Notable works include the Australian Garden at Cranbourne and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre, both of which reflect her commitment to place-based design that celebrates culture and biodiversity.

Cullity also plays a leading role in education and design discourse, contributing to symposia, judging panels, and mentoring emerging practitioners across the Asia-Pacific region. Her influence continues to shape the trajectory of Australian landscape architecture at the intersection of ecology, culture, and emotion.

2. Perry Lethlean

Perry Lethlean is one of Australia’s most prominent landscape architects, known for his leadership in large-scale urban design, cultural landscapes, and civic infrastructure. As co-director of Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TCL), alongside Kate Cullity, he has helped shape the firm into one of the country’s most awarded and influential design studios, with a global reputation for excellence. His work has helped reimagine how cities engage with public space, blending narrative, urbanism, and functionality.

Projects like Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga and North Terrace in Adelaide exemplify his ability to deliver socially vibrant and visually compelling environments. Lethlean believes in landscapes that tell stories — landscapes that are culturally grounded, context-aware, and deeply layered. His work often celebrates the intersection of landscape and infrastructure, pushing design beyond decoration and into the realm of city-making and nation-building.

Through his visionary leadership and narrative-driven design, Lethlean has helped redefine Australia’s public spaces—transforming infrastructure into cultural experiences and landscapes into lasting civic legacies.

3. Adrian McGregor

@mcgregorcoxall Adrian McGregor is a globally recognized landscape architect, urban designer, and environmental planner and the founder of McGregor Coxall. He leads one of Australia’s most innovative and forward-thinking design firms, known for its interdisciplinary approach that integrates landscape architecture, urbanism, and environmental engineering. With over two decades of experience, McGregor’s work is driven by a vision for regenerative cities — urban environments that restore rather than deplete natural systems.

He is a pioneer in applying blue-green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and climate-positive strategies to some of the most complex urban challenges of our time. McGregor has led projects such as the Parramatta River Urban Transformation and masterplans for international eco-cities, positioning his practice as a leader in regenerative and climate-responsive design.

His work continues to redefine how cities can function as living ecosystems—where landscape architecture is not just about green spaces, but about building resilient, regenerative futures.

4. Chris Razzell

Chris Razzell founded ASPECT Studios in 1993, launching the firm from Melbourne and expanding it into multiple Australian, Chinese, and UK locations . As of 2025, he continues to serve as Chair of the Board, guiding the strategic direction and cultural identity of the practice across its international studios

His leadership has shaped the firm’s collaborative “One Studio” culture and driven major civic, transport, and public realm projects that prioritize people, place, and sustainability. While not always visible on the design frontlines, Razzell’s influence is foundational—providing the strategic and cultural direction that enables ASPECT’s award-winning work.

While not always visible on the design frontlines, Razzell’s influence is foundational—providing the strategic and cultural direction that enables ASPECT’s award-winning work. The firm’s recent contributions to city-shaping projects like Darling Square (Sydney), Melbourne’s Sky Rail, and the Chongqing Xijiu Plaza (China) reflect his enduring commitment to landscape-led urban transformation.

5. Paul Thompson

Paul Thompson is one of Australia’s most influential planting designers, renowned for his pioneering work with native flora in public landscapes. Born in Melbourne’s Fairfield and raised exploring its riverbanks and bushland, Thompson developed his botanical knowledge through lived experience and independent study, later transitioning into a full-time design career.

While not a registered landscape architect, Thompson’s influence spans major public projects and educational platforms. His most notable work has been the ‘Australian Garden’ Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne and the Forest Gallery at the Melbourne Museum, both designed in collaboration with Taylor Cullity Lethlean, where he led the planting design at a site that redefined Australian native planting on the world stage. He is also the author of the seminal book Australian Planting Design, widely used by professionals and academics alike.

 

Thompson continues to contribute to the field through consulting on large-scale public and private gardens, speaking engagements, and writings that emphasize biodiversity, ecological resilience, and expressive planting design suited to Australia’s climatic and cultural landscapes.

6. Claire Martin

Claire Martin is a leading Australian landscape architect and Associate Director at OCULUS, an award-winning urban design and landscape architecture practice with offices across Australia and the U.S. With a background in both design and policy, Claire is widely recognized for her work in climate-responsive urban environments, social equity in public spaces, and landscape advocacy.

A graduate of RMIT University, Claire has built her career at the intersection of practice, education, and public discourse. She has led and contributed to a broad range of projects—from inner-city parks and strategic masterplans to research-driven frameworks for climate adaptation.

Through her design leadership, policy advocacy, and public speaking, Martin is helping shape a more inclusive and climate-adaptive future for Australian cities—where landscape architecture plays a central role in public health, equity, and environmental resilience.

7. Sue Barnsley

Sue Barnsley is celebrated for her deeply evocative, layered landscapes that blend intimacy with ecological awareness. Working across private gardens and public space projects, Barnsley’s designs are known for their spatial richness and quiet strength. She was part of the design team behind Barangaroo Headland Park, one of Sydney’s most ambitious waterfront projects, and continues to influence garden and landscape design across New South Wales with her distinctive, grounded approach.

Barnsley has carved a distinct identity in Australian landscape architecture — one that emphasizes quiet beauty, plant-led design, and subtle narratives of land and memory. Her influence is seen not only in her built works but in the way she inspires a gentler, more intimate approach to landscape design that respects ecology, history, and human emotion.

Her work invites people to slow down, connect with place, and experience the quiet power of landscapes designed with care, nuance, and deep ecological insight.

8. Jane Irwin

@janeirwin_landscape Jane Irwin is an acclaimed Australian landscape architect known for her ability to seamlessly weave together ecology, history, and public life. As principal of Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture (JILA), she has built a reputation for projects that are at once sensitive and rigorous, revealing the layered character of urban and cultural landscapes. Jane holds a degree in Landscape Architecture and has taught at University of Technology Sydney and University of New South Wales, helping shape the next generation of Australian designers.

Her signature projects include Paddington Reservoir Gardens, The Goods Line, and Sydney Park Upgrades showcase her ability to integrate heritage, contemporary function, and green infrastructure.

Her work reveals the often-overlooked layers of the Australian urban landscape — where history, ecology, and human experience intersect. With a commitment to thoughtful, site-responsive design, Irwin continues to shape public space in ways that are both contemporary and deeply rooted in place.

9. Richard Weller

Richard Weller, one of the world’s most influential landscape architects and urban theorists, passed away on May 15, 2025. His legacy lives on through his groundbreaking work in design education, ecological planning, and visionary landscape thinking. Born and educated in Australia, he began his career as a designer and academic in Perth before rising to international prominence for his visionary and often provocative work exploring the future of cities, ecology, and landscape planning. His contributions span built projects, theoretical research, books, exhibitions, and teaching — making him a rare bridge between practice and academia.

He believed in landscape as infrastructure, design as ecological diplomacy, and education as activism. Through both his built and theoretical projects, Weller challenged generations of designers to think globally and act responsibly. In 2024, Richard Weller was awarded the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) President’s Award — one of the profession’s highest honors — recognizing a lifetime of achievement in landscape architecture.

10. Bruce Mackenzie

Bruce Mackenzie is widely regarded as a founding voice in Australian ecological landscape architecture. Long before sustainability became a global design imperative, Mackenzie advocated for working with the land — not against it. His pioneering use of native plants, local materials, and low-impact interventions helped establish a distinctly Australian landscape identity, moving the profession away from Eurocentric models toward one rooted in place, ecology, and Indigenous respect.

His work helped lay the philosophical groundwork for the climate-adaptive, culturally aware design movement that defines contemporary Australian landscape architecture. Mackenzie’s legacy includes iconic projects such as the entrances to Lane Cove National Park and Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, which exemplify his commitment to native ecologies, subtle landform integration, and low-impact design. Beyond his built work, his decades of mentorship and environmental advocacy continue to influence new generations of designers across Australia.

Even after his passing in 2020, Bruce Mackenzie’s legacy endures — embedded in the parks, paths, and bushland margins that now feel inherently Australian, thanks to his lifelong vision of designing with the land, not over it.

At Sigma Planters, we believe that great landscapes begin with thoughtful design — and the right vessels to bring them to life. Our premium range of architecturally inspired planters is trusted by Australia’s leading landscape designers, architects, and urban developers. Whether for a lush residential garden or a bold civic space, Sigma Planters helps shape environments that grow with purpose.

Think we missed someone? Let us know in the comments.