LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

OCTAVE has over thirteen years of experience across a wide range of industry-leading projects. Your projects are delivered on time and on budget through a grounded, efficient, and collaborative approach at every stage of the planning and design process.

Photograph of a wooden pergola covered with climbing vines in a Vancouver / West Coast pollinator garden.
Hand-drawn landscape architectural sketch showing a modern pergola structure and framing details.
Close-up photograph of variegated Carex sedge foliage in a Vancouver pollinator garden.
Close-up photograph of a honey bee foraging on white oregano flowers in a pollinator-friendly garden.
Close-up photograph of a Western maidenhair fern (Adiantum aleuticum) showing its circular frond pattern.
Close-up photograph of salal (Gaultheria shallon) leaves with fresh raindrops in a Vancouver / Pacific Northwest garden.
Photograph of a modern garden with large granite boulders, groundcovers, and West Coast planting.
Close-up photograph of Western sword ferns (Polystichum munitum) in soft light.

FEATURED PROJECT: WATERLOO POLLINATOR GARDEN, VANCOUVER

Project by OCTAVE Landscape Architecture + Planning.
A carefully curated native plant palette provides a wide variety of year-round habitat and blooms for pollinators, birds, and other beneficial creatures. A patio and large arbour with vines entwined overhead provide a calming oasis for users. This vibrant ecosystem has served as a living lab for the past several years, providing valuable information on insect and bird visitation patterns along with adaptive management of plant species during the process of establishment, maturation, and succession.

Photograph of a very large natural stump climbing sculpture at Royal Bay Meadows Park in Colwood, BC.
Photograph of one of the wooden pedestrian bridges at Royal Bay Meadows Park with views of adjacent housing.
Image of a sculptural birds nest play feature with wooden sculptural egg in the foreground at Royal Bay Meadows Park.
Photograph showing the natural stump and birds nest climbing sculptures and meadow plantings in the central play area at Royal Bay Meadows Park.
Close-up photograph of a very large natural stump play structure woven around a large boulder at Royal Bay Meadows Park.
Photograph of a pedestrian bridge and young tree plantings overlooking the stormwater stream at Royal Bay Meadows Park.
Close-up photograph of the interior wood structure of a sculptural birds nest play feature at Royal Bay Meadows Park.

FEATURED PROJECT: ROYAL BAY MEADOWS PARK, COLWOOD, BC

Completed by Jordan McAuley as Project Manager while employed at PWL Partnership.
This quarry site turned large neighbourhood park integrates a major stormwater management channel into a re-introduced Vancouver Island Garry Oak ecosystem. Amongst native meadow grasses, children play on custom climbing sculptures hand-crafted and personally installed by B.C. public artist Warren Brubacher. It was truly rewarding to take this park from a drawing on paper to a place now loved by its frequent visitors and neighbouring residents.

Photograph of a UBC rain garden with river rock infiltration channel, shrubs, and perennial plantings at Thunderbird Stadium.
Photograph of a rain garden inlet with river rock swale and native plantings at UBC Thunderbird Stadium.
Close-up photograph of a rain garden with river-rock swale surrounded by native grasses at UBC Thunderbird Stadium.
Photograph of a UBC rain garden featuring meadow grasses and native plantings beside the Thunderbird Stadium entry plaza.
Photograph of the main concrete walkway and stadium façade at UBC Thunderbird Stadium Entry Plaza.
Photograph of a UBC rain garden planted with Spiraea douglasii (hardhack), meadow grasses, and a river rock infiltration channel at Thunderbird Stadium Entry Plaza.
Photograph of a tree-lined rain garden with grasses and river rock channel at UBC Thunderbird Stadium.

FEATURED PROJECT: UBC THUNDERBIRD STADIUM ENTRY PLAZA + RAIN GARDENS

Completed by Jordan McAuley as Project Manager while employed at PWL Partnership.
This project brought with it opportunity to design three rain gardens and a bio-swale and breath new life into an aging but hard working campus outdoor stadium. Working closely with a civil engineer, we were able to establish a functional green stormwater management system on what was once a nearly-abandoned expanse of concrete paving. This was a project that moved quickly from a blank page to a built place, delivering functional green rainwater infrastructure and a refresh of a well-used campus amenity.

Photograph of black-stained wood planters and custom wood potting bench in the Rhythm at River District residential courtyard in Vancouver.
Photograph of the UBC Binning Tower residential courtyard featuring a paver walkway, hedges, and multi-family building frontage. Tall evergreen forest in the background.

MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL*

  • Rhythm at River District, Vancouver (Top)
  • R+R at River District, Vancouver
  • Marine Gateway Water Feature Detailed Design, Vancouver
  • Stanton House, Coquitlam
  • UBC Binning Tower (Bottom)
  • UBC Eton
  • UBC Laureates 
  • The Independent, Broadway and Kingsway, Vancouver
  • TGCC Apartments, Tsawwassen
  • 701 Belleville Street, Victoria
  • Clarke & Como Lake, Coquitlam
Photograph of the Tsawwassen Springs Golf and Country Club photo garden landscape with unit paver plaza, conifers, and large boulders. Wisteria vines entwine over a large arbour in the background.
Photograph of the Grosvenor Pavilion extensive green roof in Vancouver planted with mixed sedum planting.

PARKS, COMMERCIAL + INDUSTRIAL*

  • Southgate Park, Southgate City, Burnaby
  • Royal Bay Meadows Park, Colwood, BC
  • Vancouver Waterfront Park Detail Concepts, Vancouver, WA
  • Agroupur / Sobey’s Milk Plant, Burnaby
  • Tsawwassen Springs Golf and Country Club (Top) 
  • Grosvenor Pavilion Plaza and Green Roof, Alberni Street, Vancouver (Bottom)
Close-up photograph of Western sword ferns and Carex sedge growing in the Waterloo Pollinator Gardens in Vancouver.
Photograph of the river-rock-lined bioswale with sedge grasses in the UBC Thunderbird Stadium Entry Plaza rain gardens.

RESILIENCE + HABITAT

  • Waterloo Pollinator Gardens, Vancouver (Top)
  • UBC Thunderbird Stadium Entry Plaza + Rain Gardens (Bottom)*

*Project(s) completed by Jordan McAuley while employed at PWL Partnership

TO PLANNING