Natural Order Explores What Happens When Landscape Design Embraces the Long Game.

Native Geometry, Clifton House by Anthony Gill Architects. Photography: Prue Ruscoe.

Bismarck House by Andrew Burges Architects. Photography: Prue Ruscoe.

Natural Order by Dangar Barin Smith is a 336-page hardcover published by Formist Editions. The whole book is photographed by Prue Ruscoe, with illustrations by Grace Brunner.

I’ve been looking forward to this book. Not because I needed another addition to my coffee table, but because William Dangar and his partners, Naomi Barin and Tom Smith, run a practice that understands the long game.

Published by Formist Editions this month, Natural Order documents Dangar Barin Smith’s twenty contemporary Australian residential gardens at their optimum moment—when nature has reasserted itself within exceptionally designed frameworks. This isn’t just another design monograph. It’s a reflection of a practice that has shaped how we think about landscape architecture in Australia.

Founded by Will Dangar in 1991, the practice evolved from humble beginnings—lawn mowing, as he readily admits—into a sophisticated multidisciplinary practice. In 2018, Dangar made what he describes as “one of my most satisfying strategic plays” by inviting long-time colleagues Barin and Smith to become equity partners. The move wasn’t just smart succession planning—it fundamentally expanded the practice’s capabilities across residential, multi-residential and hospitality projects.

“At the very heart of what we do, no matter the style or genre of garden, we try to find that place between nature and order. For us that is where the beauty lies,” Dangar explains in his introduction to the book.

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Bismarck House in Sydney's Bondi by Andrew Burges Architects.

At Bismarck House, Andrew Burges chose ground floor materials with the idea that anything that brought the feeling of the garden landscape inside would be the material or design of choice.

Vertical Grotto, Waterloo St, the home of Adam Haddow of SJB. Photography: Prue Ruscoe.

Some pages of Vertical Grotto, Waterloo St in the Natural Order book.

Natural Order showcases the practice’s collaborative approach through conversations between editor Karen McCartney and Dangar Barin Smith partners, chronicling design challenges, horticultural solutions and partnerships with clients and practitioners.

The book arrives eight years after Dangar’s first publication, Garden (2017). “There has been a distinct elevation in the type of projects we are now working on, and we also have a much larger volume of natural and native gardens,” Dangar notes. “The latter appear relatively simple to compose but are much more difficult (horticulturally) to deliver.”

That candour about complexity matters. Too often, landscape architecture gets treated as decorative afterthought rather than fundamental infrastructure. Adam Haddow—Director Architecture at SJB and national president of the Australian Institute of Architects—addresses this directly in his foreword, positioning Dangar Barin Smith’s work within broader landscape traditions while making a bold claim.

“As an architect and the national president of the Australian Institute of Architects, it may seem like professional suicide to suggest this, but I firmly believe that our best cities are those where the landscape dominates,” Haddow writes. He traces influences from French formal gardens through English picturesque movements to contemporary Australian practice informed by First Nations’ understanding of land, before focusing on what sets Dangar Barin Smith apart.

“The work of Dangar Barin Smith is deeply informed by this history. While their practice is rooted in the British tradition of stretching and making space, they have forged their own path, mastering the art of guiding us down the garden path—both physically and mentally—towards something greater than the sum of its parts.”

Can Living with Less Result in More: Adam Haddow's Home in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

Haddow's favourite aspect of his new house is how it engages with the community. From collaborations with artists including the front gate bronze sculpture by Mika Utzon-Popov, and an all-enveloping landscape canvas by Nicholas Harding visible from the street, to the bricks by Krause, rejected from another project.

William Dangar, Tom Smith and Naomi Barin at Rochester St Office.

Robert Plumb Collective Rochester St Office by Allied Office with interiors by Akin Atelier and Second Edition.

Haddow describes the practice’s approach as embodying “curated wildness,” allowing nature to unfold while elevating the experience of place. He references experiencing their work firsthand in both an expansive rooftop garden and a 28-square-metre terrace house, noting their ability to make constrained spaces feel expansive.

“It takes great minds to design spaces that require an investment in slowness, enabling them to reveal themselves over time,” Haddow observes. “In an era obsessed with immediacy, the work of a landscape architect demands patience, vision and foresight—an understanding that the garden that grows is the garden we need.”

The practice operates from a purpose-built space in Sydney’s Botany, part of the Robert Plumb Collective. Sharing offices with builders, joiners, furniture makers and architects creates what Dangar describes as “a distinct advantage when creating and delivering our work.” This cross-pollination of ideas and expertise has become fundamental to the practice’s evolution. The building itself—designed by Allied Office with interiors by Akin Atelier and Second Edition—demonstrates their ethos, with plants cascading, weaving and climbing throughout.

Haddow captures the essence of their work: “The work of Dangar Barin Smith is both serious and playful. There is joy in their landscapes, and they work tirelessly to ensure outcomes feel effortless.”

Natural Order documents a practice that understands something fundamental: good landscape architecture operates on timescales that challenge our obsession with instant results. These are gardens designed to improve over years, even decades. That patience deserves recognition.

Natural Order by Dangar Barin Smith is published by Formist Editions. The book is available now via the link below.

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Thoughtful Design, Strong Partnerships and a Willingness to Experiment Converge in this Game-Changing Sydney Office.

Rochester Street Office is the poster child for collaborative design and innovative thinking, setting a new standard for workplace architecture in repurposed industrial areas.

Terraced Seascapes, Shelley Beach House by Madeleine Blanchfield Architects. Photography: Prue Ruscoe.

Sculptural Shadows, Mosman House by William Smart Studio. Photography: Prue Ruscoe.

Bay St, Mosman House by Potter & Wilson. Photography: Prue Ruscoe.

Generous Gestures, Mollymook House by MCK Architects.

[Images courtesy of Dangar Barin Smith. Photography by Prue Ruscoe.]