WildLab

WildLab is a group of designers and researchers committed to growing a world where people and nature thrive together.

We collaborate with community groups, iwi, farmers, business, and government agencies. Together, we create regenerative landscapes, strategies, experiences, and communication tools that connect them and their partners with te taiao and nature.

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Te Araroa Map Series and Toolkit

Be among the first to explore Te Araroa in a whole new way. This new six-map series brings the whole trail together, beautifully designed for walkers, section-planners, and everyone who’s part of the Te Araroa journey.

$58.00

Love Our Huts T-Shirt Fundraiser

Wear your support for FMC's Love Our Huts campaign with these awesome T-shirts! $20 from each purchase goes to supporting the great work Federated Mountain Clubs do.

$48.00

Southern Faces - An Introduction to Rock Climbing in Ōtepoti Dunedin

Southern Faces is a comprehensive climbing guidebook for Ōtepoti Dunedin, created to fill a 25-year gap in local climbing information. Designed and edited by WildLab's very own Riley Smith, the project brought together climbers, designers, mana whenua and scientists to produce an accurate and visually engaging resource. It combines detailed route descriptions, maps and access notes with essays and photography that highlight the region’s geology, ecology and climbing culture.

$48.00

Southern Faces Tees - Pinnacle

Tees feature Dave Brash’s original topos from his 2000 classic Dunedin Rock - cheers Dave! These shirts are a tribute to the cliffs, climbs and community that continue to shape the climbing story of Ōtepoti. There are three awesome designs to choose from!

$48.00

Our Projects

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Punakaiki Coastal Restoration Project

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A former mining and farmland site now transforms into thriving native rainforest, nurtured by volunteers and an on‑site nursery. It offers hands‑on experiences—seed‑raising, planting, monitoring, citizen science—while restoring the unique habitat where the Tāiko (Westland petrel) breeds. Over 200,000 eco‑sourced plants have been established.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Social Housing

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A small urban pocket transforms into a vibrant, native‑plant sanctuary around three homes, offering more than housing. Thoughtfully designed landscapes, with decks oriented toward Aoraki, welcome native birds and foster ecological renewal—turning a modest development into a green, community‑inspired haven.

Seaview Vineyard Landscape Restoration Strategy

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WildLab and Yealands Wine Group devised a landscape strategy across 250 ha, planting native vegetation to boost biodiversity, restore coastal, riparian, and hillside ecosystems, support seed dispersal, enhance amenity value, and strengthen brand storytelling through ecologically rich design.

Seaview Vineyard White Road Tour Storytelling

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Storytelling panels and wayfinding signs guide vineyard visitors along Yealand's White Road Tour, explaining sustainable winemaking practices—like caring for water, nurturing vines naturally, and repurposing prunings—with engaging visuals and clear directions, turning each stop into an immersive, educational journey through the vineyard’s regenerative processes.

Field Notes

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WildLab Field Guide to Designing Great Storytelling Panels

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For over a decade we’ve been designing storytelling panels that connect people with nature. This guide shares the principles behind our work—how good design and strong stories can inspire, build connection, and help communities bring the values of Te Taiao to life.

New Land

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This exploratory map invites us to see Aotearoa’s public conservation lands—covering a third of the country—not as fixed or finished, but as places full of fresh potential. Re-imagined as a newly discovered archipelago, it prompts us to ask how we might live differently within these lands. Could they foster new forms of innovation, economy, and culture grounded in restoration, care, and a deep engagement with nature?

Behind the Image

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This column, some years back for Wilderness Magazine, takes a look at our love of pristine wilderness photos—those calendar shots with no people, no huts, no mess. But behind every image is someone swatting sandflies, hauling gear, and eating tuna from a foil pouch. Maybe it’s time we showed that too

Social Natures

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How do landscapes and people shape each other? From stone walls built after forests were cleared, to regenerating bush reclaiming old farmland, it reveals how places are formed through work, memory, and material. Rather than viewing nature and architecture as separate, it shows them as deeply entwined—built from shared histories, changing relationships, and ongoing conversations.

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Our Projects

Field Notes

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