inDetail with Sacha Coles

A team of internationally recognised designers, landscape architects and urbanists are brought together in ASPECT Studios, first established by Sacha Coles in 1993. The Sydney studio, which opened in 1999, is nestled in the culturally rich suburb of Redfern. Sacha has built a name for himself within the industry, having received acclaim as one of the top thirty landscape architects globally. Sacha has been the inaugural adjunct professor of landscape architecture at the University of Technology Sydney since 2014, as well as a former board member of the Australian Design Centre and former president of the NSW Australian Institute of Landscape Architects. 

ASPECT Studios are united by a collective championing of creative solutions which adopt a human-centred and ecologically responsible approach to the design of built and natural environments. Sacha finds purpose in bringing people together and through the expression of the qualities of place, landscape and history. 

During his conversation with Stephen Varady, Sacha speaks of the way place and human experience permeate into his practice, as highlighted by some of his most-recognisable projects such as Darling Square, Quay Quarter Lanes and the Sydney Harbour Bridge Cycleway. 

Sacha shares his mission of bringing delight and enhancing the lives of people with his ASPECT Studios team. The sensory experience is at the forefront of how Sacha approaches design. “I try to get my young designers to think about [the process of design] in a fully sensory environment, what does it sound like to walk on that path, the gravel crunch - or where is that amazing specimen tree that is flowering in September, and what does that do?” explains Sacha. 

Despite his passion for the human experience, approaching design in this manner can be challenging when communicating with clients focused on commercial output, argues Sacha. “The problem with place and landscape architecture and urban design is that it doesn’t necessarily straight away equate to dollars, and you have to quantify the value of a child wanting to be in an urban space, be next to plants and them wanting to return there.” 

ASPECT Studios practice is also driven by a deep commitment to country, which he believes brings authenticity to his work. “The only way you can get authentic design is if you know the land on which you work.” This approach is evidenced by the design of the Sydney Harbour Bridge Cycleway, where an appreciation for the heritage of the site, and acknowledgement of the cycleway as the connection from Cammeraygal Country to Gadigal Country permeates the project. 

With 20 years of experience in landscape architecture, Sacha notes an evolution in the role of landscape architects in collaborative projects. Formerly sub-consultants, landscape architecture has shifted into project lead capacities, allowing ASPECT Studios to invite their own collaborators to the project. Sacha credits the changing value of landscape architecture to clients’ growing understandings of the need to start projects on a macro scale, as is the approach of ASPECT Studios. 

Collaboration has generally been a positive experience for Sacha which he attributes to relationships of professional respect and creating a shared acknowledgement of what success looks like when commencing any project. For Sacha, navigating complex personalities and egos is guided by his optimistic approach, “there is a grain of a good idea in every person” he says. 

“The only way you can get authentic design is if you know the land on which you work.”

“The only way you can get authentic design is if you know the land on which you work.”