Rhys Girvan named a Fellow of the NZILA

Landscape planner and Boffa Miskell Associate Partner Rhys Girvan has been recognised for his sustained contribution to landscape planning, professional practice and the Institute.

After graduating from Lincoln University with a Master of Landscape Architecture in 2004, Rhys Girvan began his career in Queenstown before moving to London, where he worked as a landscape planner. He returned to New Zealand and joined Boffa Miskell in Wellington in 2012, later relocating to the Ōtautahi Christchurch office. Rhys is the Technical Lead for Landscape Planning, recognising his professional expertise, collaborative leadership and longstanding contribution to the discipline.

Across urban, rural and coastal environments, Rhys Girvan’s work has helped communities, clients and decision-makers understand landscape values and manage change carefully. His expertise spans broad-scale landscape characterisation, natural character evaluation, landscape and visual effects assessment, site planning, rehabilitation and closure planning, and expert evidence before council hearings and the Environment Court.

Rhys' project work includes landscape assessments for the Waihi North Gold Mine, the Omāroro Prince of Wales Reservoir and Dunedin City Council’s Waste Futures programme, alongside district and regional studies in Porirua, Wellington, South Taranaki and Nelson. Through projects such as the Upper Hutt tree protection plan change, he has also helped develop robust and practical assessment methods that give councils and communities greater certainty about the values being protected.

Beyond individual projects, Rhys Girvan has played an important role in strengthening landscape planning practice. Guidelines and assessment procedures developed under his leadership have been tested and adopted both within and beyond Boffa Miskell. He is currently Chair of the NZILA Visual Simulation Guidelines Working Group and has contributed extensively to the Institute’s advocacy and submissions on environmental and planning legislation. In 2023, he represented the Institute at the select committee hearing on the Natural and Built Environment Bill.

His service was previously acknowledged with a 2022 NZILA President’s Award for his contribution to the Environmental Legislation Committee and coastal policy work. He has also shared his knowledge through professional workshops, seminars and guest lectures at Lincoln University, while mentoring emerging practitioners at Boffa Miskell.

Colleagues and peers know Rhys Girvan for his thorough, evidence-based approach, professional integrity and inclusive way of working. His Fellowship honours a practitioner whose influence reaches beyond the projects he leads. Rhys has helped build technical capability, improve day-to-day practice and guide thoughtful responses to landscape change across Aotearoa.

Fellowship is awarded to registered landscape architects who have made a significant contribution to the profession. For Rhys Girvan, this reflects more than 20 years of practice across Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom, along with his leadership in advancing the methods, guidance and professional practices of landscape assessment.