Hi, my name is Kathleen and I like tiny apartments over shops, hikes with panoramic city views, and flowing urban landscapes.

Before moving back to Vancouver, I spent a year in Berkeley, California. While in the San Francisco Bay Area, I led design processes for the India Basin community farm and Wilkie Creek outdoor classroom. I also researched and planned a monitoring protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of a bioswale in removing heavy metals along the Richmond Greenway. Together, these experiences inspired me to pursue a career in landscape architecture.

An Environmental Engineering graduate from the University of Alberta, I recently completed the Urban Design certificate at SFU's City Program and am working toward my Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph. This website also includes samples of my project work in Vancouver and Toronto.

An outline of my educational background and work experiences can be found below.



My resume is available below, and an extended version as a pdf. (Click to Expand)









These three projects are client-driven design responses. The reworking of Branion Plaza is currently a finalist in the University-of-Guelph-sponsored design competition. Located in the heart of campus and bounded by student essentials, the existing space falls short. The proposed concept evokes a new sense of place with an interactive, environmentally sustainable landmark. (Click to Expand)

The Millen Woods playground concept was incorporated into the design of three new playspaces for Grades 1 to 6 ($30,000 Phase 1 nearing completion), with the Principal and Parent Council acting as clients.

The final project proposes elements for a $1.5 million upgrade to the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium. The clients were the Head Coach of the Football Program, Coaches from the Track and Field Program, and the Hospitality Services Administrator.

Media/Software: Hand Drawings (Markers, Coloured Pencils), AutoCAD, SketchUp, Photoshop, InDesign












The Middle Maitland River Rejuvenation Project addresses ecology and culture in a small southern Ontario town. This design for the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority calls for the removal of an aging dam structure and the creation of habitat islands connected to recreational trails to improve biodiversity within site boundaries while incorporating a natural watercourse. (Click to Expand)

Healthy by Water followed the US EPA RainWorks Challenge competition requirements. The project encompasses the bus loop of the University of Guelph, which is a high impervious area with concentrated vehicular and foot traffic. The design recommends improving rainwater management and creating functional campus spaces by reconfiguring the existing bus loop and constructing infiltration rains gardens and lawn depressions.

Media/Software: Hand Drawings (Markers), ArcGIS, AutoCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign - greytone rendering was a requirement for these projects












Finding a place to sit on Robson Street can be tricky, especially when the sidewalks are overflowing with people. As part of a Spacing Vancouver article, this sketch brings attention to an underutilized space waiting to be recognised as an opportunity for community design. (Click to Expand)

These puzzles are scraps of the urban fabric embedded in the physical neighbourhood surroundings of mini-to-large parks.

Media/Software: Hand Drawings (Marker)












Nestled in the busy streets of downtown Toronto, Yorkville Park is a series of gardens representing the diverse Canadian landscape while reflecting local neighbourhood heritage. Conceptual and spatial models (constructed at 1:200) provide an abstract commentary and capture the actual forms and spatial configuration of the park, respectively. (Click to Expand)

The second studio project involved constructing a contour model of an existing property owned by the Fischer family in the Township of Armour. Landscape design included reforestation planting, groundcover planting, and granite boulder wall construction.

Media/Software: Newspaper Board, Recycled and Mixed Paper, Plexiglass, Corrugated Cardboard, Acrylic Paint, Tree Branches, Sand and Rocks










As part of the Urban Design Certificate program at Simon Fraser University, design concepts and analyses of Commercial Drive were undertaken. The first component presented, an urban design plan, proposes to enhance the wider section south of East 1st Avenue by accommodating multi-modal transportation and pedestrian activity nodes on a boulevard. (Click to Expand)

The second component calls for removing the existing barriers to pedestrian/Skytrain connectivity from the bridge on the Drive, affording street level access from the north that connects to the bridge and existing Skytrain concourse. Landscape features promoting a more natural environment are also recommended.

The third component illustrates the built form of Commercial Drive. The opening of the Vancouver-New Westminster electric interurban railway in 1891 set the stage for what has become a rather eclectic community along the Drive. Blocks dominated by retail and one-and-two storey buildings along the Drive are captured through elevation sketches.

Medium: Hand Drawings (Marker)










Little Etobicoke Creek is one of four subwatershed basins that make up Etobicoke Creek in Peel Region. Various methods of bio-engineering, the establishment of meanders throughout the creek, and naturalization of vegetation were applied to sections of the creek in this design to counter the effects of urbanization and flash flooding. (Click to Expand)

A new edition of a bi-annual brochure for environmental educators was created for The Watershed Project in 2009 with over 500 copies distributed throughout the Bay Area. The brochure has served as a template for future communication materials.

Inspired by Herbert Dreiseitl's Tanner Spring Parks, an experimental interpretation of the site was sketched out after a self-guided tour of Portland and its rainwater management initiatives.

Media/Software: Hand Drawings (Markers, Coloured Pencils), AutoCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign














Wilkie Creek is a narrow stream flowing behind residential backyards and a high school within the City of Richmond, bordering El Sobrante, California. As part of bank stabilization works, this plan has become a reality with the help of volunteers who have mulched and planted the area, including building the proposed outdoor classroom. (Click to Expand)

The community farm proposal in San Francisco includes a preliminary sketch of the site, as part of the India Basin Shoreline Vision developed by the India Basin Neighbourhood Association in partnership with local architects and planners. The sketches were created and presented to community members and planning/research associations at various public events.

In Richmond, California, a Bioswale Demonstration Project was launched in 2009. It will be the first ever bioswale to be built along the Richmond Greenway. For this project, I researched and planned a monitoring protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed bioswale in removing arsenic, mercury, PCBs, and other contaminants along the Richmond Greenway, a former railway right-of-way.

Media/Software: Hand Drawings (Markers, Coloured Pencils), AutoCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign












Among my projects for Spacing Magazine/Spacing Vancouver are a growing series of short documentary montages on recent interventions in Vancouver's public realm; the most recent is a piece on Urban Pasture/Pop Rocks/Hot Tubs/VIVA Vancouver 2012. Articles from the online magazine can be found here. (Click to Expand)