Arcadia has further established its presence in Victoria with the announcement of a new studio in Geelong and new Melbourne Principal, Elly Russell.
“Arcadia has enjoyed consistent growth in Victoria since opening in 2020, with the market demonstrating a clear desire to engage with a new and committed design firm and our unique approach to landscape architecture and urban design projects,” says Alex Longley, Founding Principal of Arcadia.
To support this demand, and the number of projects Arcadia is working on in Geelong and surrounding regions, including hospitals and schools, the firm identified an opportunity to establish a new studio. The Geelong studio will be led by Matt York and joins Arcadia’s offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, and the Sunshine Coast.
“Having lived and worked in the region, I recognise the opportunity we can have in helping shape new communities that will be living here in the years to come with great landscape architecture and urban design. With new team members already identified, we are excited to start work and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with a number of local collaborators and authorities to talk about how Arcadia can help deliver open spaces and public domain in the region,” says Matt York, Principal of Arcadia in Victoria.
Reflecting on the growth of the business Longley says: “While we pride ourselves on applying our deep local knowledge to designing projects for place, we have processes in place that mean we work as one studio, with more than 60 landscape architects working on local and cross studio projects. This enables our teams in different states and territories to collaborate on design and delivery in other regions. Many of our people thrive in this flexible environment and this is part of the reason we have such an appetite to extend into new markets.”
Arcadia’s Melbourne studio is excited to welcome Elly Russell to work alongside Nelson Gomes and Matt York in leading the team working across a diverse range of public and private projects in metropolitan and regional Victoria. Elly brings over 15 years of high-calibre design experience working across Australia, the United Kingdon and Asia. Her award-winning experience on high profile projects including Sentosa and Brani Masterplan and Monash University’s Caulfield campus with Grant Associates and TCL, and her passion for design and experience leading multi-disciplinary projects will benefit the team as they work on projects at all stages of design and construction.
“I’m excited to join an established Australian landscape architectural practice that is passionate, reflexive, and driven to improve public realm design excellence for our cities and regions,” says Elly Russell, Principal of Arcadia Melbourne.
Arcadia is deeply committed to the expression of Traditional Owner narratives. Having worked internationally and at global practices for some years I look forward to meaningfully reconnecting with Country as we face future environmental challenges together.”
