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Chickens Live Here! Marrickville
Kiama Harbour / Blowhole Point Headland Master Plan
D’harawal Country, Kiama
The Master Plan for Kiama Harbour and Blowhole Point Headland reflects the shared aspirations of the local community, stakeholders, and visitors. It celebrates the area’s deep cultural and historical significance, enhances the natural beauty and ecological resilience of the headland, and enriches both everyday and visitor experiences. Designed to be sensitive to place, the plan strengthens Kiama’s identity as a coastal destination while ensuring long-term environmental care and public access.
Katrin Plogstert with Site Plus and Kiama Council
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Shellharbour Foreshore
D’harawal Country, Shellharbour to Warilla
Along a 4.5km stretch of foreshore, the team developed a dune stabilisation and revegetation plan which enhanced the ecological function of the area. Revegetation planting stabilises dunes, reduces erosion, inhibits weed infestation and protects the remnant vegetation community.
Katrin Plogstert with Site Plus and Shellharbour City Council
Barunguba Montague Island Penguin Viewing Platform
Yuin Country
Client: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, National Parks and Wildlife
“I pray that the spirit of this sacred place touches the hearts of the wider south coast community and all visitors who may come. May we always say yes to reconciliation, as it always was and always will be Aboriginal land, Walawaani.”
— Uncle Bunja Smith, Walbunja and Yuin Elder, at the dual-naming ceremony, 2023
Barunguba is the eldest child of Mother Gulaga, and sibling to Najanuka. The island’s story reflects both deep time and deep disruption — from the forced displacement of the Yuin people, to the introduction of invasive species, and decades of environmental damage under European management.
Thanks to years of dedicated conservation work and the island’s isolation, Barunguba Montague is now a sanctuary again — a vital habitat for marine and bird life, and an Aboriginal Place returned to the care of Traditional Custodians in 2008. In 2023, its original name was officially restored.
Understorey’s design approach acknowledges the frayed and ongoing story of this sacred site. Our contribution is quiet and careful — an effort to support cultural and ecological restoration, and to respectfully weave connections between place, memory, and future care.
Full Sun, Coastal Front Garden
Salvaged concrete pavers and sandstone found on site form steppers through the garden.
Steel salvaged from under the house used to retain a kitchen planting of herbs and flowers.
Peach decomposed granite was selected for the front garden path to blend with copious gum leaf litter from overhead canopy.
We acknowledge and thank the Traditional Owners of Dharawal Country, the unceded lands
of the Illawarra where we live.
We credit First Nations people for their ongoing work in protecting, holding and sharing knowledge that underpins best practice in landscape design and management all over the world.
This land always was, and always will be,
Aboriginal Land.