Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TCL) is a Melbourne- and Adelaide-based landscape architecture and urban design studio passionate about the poetic expression of landscape and contemporary culture. This has permeated its design work in a multiplicity of public settings, from urban waterfronts to desert walking trails. In each case, the detailed exploration of context, site and community have informed outcomes and enriched the patterning and detail of built landscapes.

Four streams of investigation inform the practice’s work: contemporary urban life and global culture; the elemental power of site and landscape; artistic practice in a range of disciplines; and the creation of a sustainable future. TCL brings exceptional skills and experience in the design of public space environments. Its Directors are landscape architects and urban design leaders in their field, with a long-standing emphasis on places of cultural significance.

Perry Lethlean, Kate Cullity, Scott Adams, Damian Schultz and Lisa Howard each bring different disciplines and skills to the firm. Along with a shared background in landscape architecture, Kate is trained in botany and visual arts, Perry in urban design, Damian in cultural institutions and experiences, Lisa has extensive expertise in educational design and Scott is renowned for his infrastructural experience.

To each project, TCL brings robust and meaningful visions (developing master plans and conceptual designs that respond to their context and provide compelling visions for the future); a collaborative approach (with clients, stakeholders and communities); an ecological base (working creatively with environmentally sustainable principles); sustainable communities and economies (maintaining a strong community development focus and valuing collaboration with Traditional Owners, as well as targeting sustainable economic outcomes for clients); research (through a dedicated research arm, which speculates on the future of landscape architecture and urban design); and cultural interpretation (in consideration of environmental and cultural history, as well as contemporary life).

Through bringing together diverse thinking, TCL can creatively respond to projects and achieve unexpected outcomes. Importantly, TCL has brought creativity, contemporary design thinking and a touch of the poetic to its projects and created memorable environments that have enhanced the social, cultural, environmental and economic lives of the communities in which it has worked.

Photography: Kris Paulsen, John Gollings, Massimo Combi