About us

Greenstone Design for health promotion solutions is the international landscape + urban design consultancy that designs to promote health and wellbeing. Our Founder and Director Dr Gayle Souter-Brown 's PhD undertook the gold standard of health research, a randomised controlled trial to test the effects of a sensory garden she designed. She teaches the salutogenic design approach, that is, promoting well-being by reducing stress to prevent or reduce the risk of lifestyle related disease, and manage conditions such as dementia, ASD, ADHD.  Conditions such as stroke prevention, anxiety, heart attack, COPD, some cancers, depression, obesity, type 2 diabetes, can all be addressed through environmental design. That means our designs not only look good but can actually make a measurable difference to individuals, their family and whānau and their communities.

We are an active, research-led, evidence-based design practice. Our collaborative and integrated holistic systems thinking approach enables delivery of creative, sustainable, innovative and cost-effective value across

•     dementia care
•     parks and recreation
•     education, 
•     health, 
•     urban design,
•     community gardening, 
•     business parks
•     retirement villages,
•     social housing.

Greenstone Design was established in NZ as the daughter company of Greenstone Design UK Ltd.  Recognised as a leader in salutogenic landscape and urban design with demonstrated capabilities in peer review, stakeholder engagement, research, planning and design, we are known for health-giving, cost-effective design. 

Projects / clients we have worked with include :​

• NZ's first wheelchair-accessible treehouse design, Silverstream School
• NZ's first specialist dementia sensory gardens design, Sprott House, Wellington, NZ  
• natural playgrounds and outdoor learning environments for 20 ECE Centres, design and project management,The Wellington Playcentre  Association, NZ  
• peer review of architects' developed design landscape plans for all patient and staff areas, Burwood Hospital, Christchurch, NZ
• healing gardens for practice rooms, design, Holistic Health, Wellington, NZ 
• Europe's first disabled children's hotel, masterplan and developed design including sensory gardens, petting zoo, universal design playground,Centre Algarve eco resort, Portugal
• wheelchair-accessible sensory playgrounds, Mary Rose Special School,Portsmouth, UK,
• natural playgrounds for Pre-K - Yr7, (to be playable under snow for 5 months of the year), Anglo-American School of Moscow, Russia
• sensory gardens for a)adults with severe  and profound learning disabilities, b)adults with severe ASD, Norwood Village residential care, Berkshire, UK 
• eco resort design consultants to London-based architects, Azerbaijan
• award-winning community playground and outdoor performance space, North Islington Children's Centre, London, UK
• memorial gardens for their care home, Epilepsy Society UK
• community gardens, outdoor kitchen and classroom using locally available labour and materials, Crystal House Boys' home, Mwanza, Tanzania
• design of natural playground and community hub for social housing estate, Raglan Trust, Hampshire, UK 
• design of social therapeutic horticulture and personal gardens for retirement village and aged care home, Addington Trust, Sussex, UK

We bring scientific rigour, international experience, climate adaptive planting design for wildlife and a sense of equity to each project. Our passion is to make the world a better place through innovative design. Sharing that passion is what motivates us to write, speak and train others.  Our growing team shares our love of joined up thinking, to impact the triple bottom line..


To view our corporate profile page, please click here
To view our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Policy, click here
To view our Diversity & Equality Policy, click here
To view our Environmental Policy, click here
To view our Quality Management Statement, click here

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We are professional members of the Association of Environmentally Conscious Builders, associates of CHANGE, Eco Schools, Institute for Learning, Learning Through Landscapes, Play England, Royal Horticultural Society, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the Garden History Society,  the International School Grounds Alliance,  the International Society of Sustainability Professionals, the National Association of Field Studies Officers, the Sensory Trust, and the Urban Design Group. 

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CHANGE Consulting for Health, Air, Nature, & a Greener Environment