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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Te Whenua Hou: a distributed forest

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A sweeping, distributed native forest of 1.2 million plants springs to life across 20 farms, weaving biodiversity through farmland. Designed with fractal, braided‑river patterns, it creates a 350‑hectare ecological “bird bridge,” connecting the Southern Alps with Banks Peninsula.

Abel Tasman Virtual Visitor Centre App

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The Abel Tasman Virtual Visitor Centre App is a mobile guide offering curated information on walks, history, and biodiversity through wireframe and high‑fidelity prototypes. It also invites visitors to contribute to local restoration by uploading bird sightings like the weka.

Lowburn Ferry Vineyard Master Plan

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This initial design layers ecological restoration with native planting and productive gardens to highlight terroir. Designed as an animated narrative, it invites people to experience the vineyard’s unique climate and story through immersive landscapes that celebrate place and provenance.

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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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.

The Story of the National Parks of Aotearoa New Zealand

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In September 2017 we brought the story of the national parks of Aotearoa New Zealand to Beijing, China. It was hosted at the Museum of Chinese Gardens and Landscape Architecture, and shows the ways the National Park idea has evolved over the last 130 years in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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?

Forever Wild

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This recent column reflects on how moments in wild places shape who we are. It traces the history of New Zealand’s protected lands and how they came to be, while noting the pressures they face today. It asks us to consider the shared responsibility we all have for ensuring these places remain fully protected both now and into the future.

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Our Projects

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