By Stephen Burton | Featuring Lauren Newton, AECOM
When you ask a landscape architect what makes a public place successful, you might expect them to talk about drainage, paving materials, or canopy coverage.
But for Lauren Newton, Associate Director at AECOM, the answer comes down to a single variable.
“People. Every single time,” she says.
In this episode of The Placemakers, I sat down with Lauren to discuss the evolving role of landscape architecture, the “intangible” art of placemaking, and a critical issue facing the industry: the lack of women in senior design leadership.
Lauren argues that we need to stop designing for “users” and start designing for “feelings,” and she shares a personal journey about breaking the mold of the “middle-aged man” in the construction industry.
If people are the most important ingredient in a public space, how do we know what they want?
Lauren suggests a simple biological rule of thumb: “Two ears, one mouth. Listen more than we speak.”
Too often, designers arrive with a preconceived vision. Lauren advocates for a “collaborative workshop” approach where the professional steps back and creates a safe space for the community to draw, speak, and share.
“All great design has a methodology,” Lauren explains. “But then once you start to identify who the key end-users… are, you really need to ask them.”
This means engaging a diverse range of voices from primary school students to professionals to gather data on how the community wants to use the space, not just how it looks.
Is there a difference between landscape architecture and placemaking? Lauren sees them as “one and the same,” but notes that placemaking often applies a different lens.
It focuses on the “intangible things,” such as:
“Design cues are born of how we want to feel in a space,” Lauren notes.
If a community says they want to feel “safe,” the design response might be better lighting or lower fence lines. If they want to feel “connected,” the response might be communal seating. The physical design is simply a result of the emotional desire.
Mid-way through her career, after returning to work following the birth of her daughter, Lauren had a realization that changed her trajectory.
She looked around the boardroom and asked herself: “Where did all the senior women go?”
For years, Lauren had been subconsciously modeling her behavior on the people she saw in power.
“My whole career, I had tried to think like, act like, design like, and present like a middle-aged man, because they were my mentors and bosses,” she admits.
With the help of a mentor, she realized that her unique perspective as a woman and a mother was not a liability - it was an asset. She could bring “lived experiences” to a project that her male counterparts could not.
While the industry is nearing a 50/50 gender split at the graduate level, there is still a massive disparity in senior leadership.
Lauren’s advice for the industry is blunt and actionable: “Hire more women. Put us in decision-making roles.”
She argues that we must:
“You’ve got to be the change you want to see,” she says. happens on the ground.
🎧 Listen to the Episode
We dive deep into the methodology of community consultation and the future of women in design.
📄 Accessibility & Reference
Prefer to read? Download the full word-for-word transcript of this interview.
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