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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Designing With Nature

What changes when nature is both the purpose of our designing and an active collaborator in the process? Designing with Nature is both a collective and personal exploration of that question — thirty projects across Aotearoa New Zealand where we’ve been examining this possibility.

$48.00

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

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

Field Notes

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Mick's latest Substack

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Wilderness or Wildness? On the difference between a place you go and a thing you do.

Designing With Nature

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To begin with, exploring nature and designing ran on separate tracks. Until I was 29, the hills were pretty much all I did. A decade of haphazard study got me an architecture degree, while driving cabs, pumping gas, washing dishes and working in orchards funded my outdoors trips. Design came later, and separately. This book is about the years when the two finally met — and what I've been trying to work out ever since.

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.

Being Landscape

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This article reimagines landscape not as a static scene to be observed or preserved, but as an active, lived relationship between people and place. Drawing on personal experiences, design research, and fieldwork,a case for more participatory approaches to conservation is made—ones that foster mutual shaping between people and landscape, and enable deeper belonging through embodied practice.

Our Projects

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Taranaki Tracks and Trails Strategy 2040

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The Taranaki Tracks and Trails Strategy 2040 sets a long-term vision for how journeys through the region can connect people with the mana of Taranaki. By grounding design in cultural narrative and ecological values, the strategy offers a pathway for tracks and trails to inspire, connect, and transform communities and visitors alike.

Guide Hill Station Restoration Strategy

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Spanning 3,500 hectares, this restoration strategy weaves ecological renewal into working merino farmland. It safeguards critical habitat for the rare black stilt (kakī), restores ecological corridors like Bolton’s Gully, and balances dryland farming with long-term cultural and environmental resilience.

Guide Hill Station Outdoor Museum Interpretation Design

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A sequence of interpretation panels weaves stories through tussockland, guiding visitors across Guide Hill Station’s landscape. These panels unfold the history and ecology of merino sheep, mountains, wild Pūkaki, lakes, and restoration efforts—bringing the land’s heritage vividly to life.

The Future is Wild @ The Hillocks

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WildLab designed and developed the concept, landscape and building for The Future is Wild @ The Hillocks - an innovative visitor experience where place, architecture, VR storytelling, and hands-on planting combine. Each stage reveals Aotearoa’s ecological past and future, guiding visitors from awe to action. The result is a powerful design framework that directly supports nature’s restoration.

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DesigningwithNature

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Field Notes

Our Projects

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