The Practice
Design Excellence, Craftsmanship, and Sustainability
Our practice is grounded in a craftsman’s spirit — an insistence on design excellence, technical precision, and landscapes that perform ecologically as well as aesthetically. Every project is treated as an opportunity to advance sustainability, from climate-adaptive planting and low-carbon material strategies to long-term maintenance efficiency. With strong working knowledge of municipal policies, bylaws, and permitting systems across municipalities, we deliver designs that are not only innovative, but also aligned with regulatory expectations, expedited through approvals, and resilient under public and environmental scrutiny.
Collaboration and Stakeholder-Driven Design
We believe successful landscape architecture is built on respectful, transparent collaboration. We work closely with clients, consultants, and community stakeholders to ensure the design reflects shared goals while maintaining a clear professional vision. We are confident defending design intent when it strengthens the project — and equally comfortable adapting when new information, public feedback, or cost realities emerge. This balance of leadership and flexibility has helped us build trusted relationships across private developers, municipalities, architects, and construction teams.
Project Management, Risk Control, and Performance Delivery
Clients rely on us not just for design, but for control of risk, time, and budget. We manage projects with clear deliverable schedules, defined milestones, and transparent communication so that expectations are always aligned. Our fee structures and scope are openly defined from the start, avoiding surprises and reducing the risk of costly scope creep. Whether working with public agencies or private-sector partners, our role is to protect budgets, support approvals, and deliver landscapes that earn long-term public support and perform as promised after construction.
Technical Strength and Build-Ready Documentation
Strong technical execution is a defining strength of our practice. Our drawings are fully coordinated, buildable, and grounded in construction realities, minimizing RFIs and changes during tendering and installation. Quality control is embedded in every stage — from concept through IFC documents — ensuring that what is imagined is what gets built. This commitment to technical precision, material knowledge, and constructability is where thoughtful design meets real-world construction, and where clients gain confidence that the work will succeed in the field, not just on paper.
The Team
Joe H. Zhou
Landscape Architect MBCSLA CSLA
Kai Zhu
Senior Designer BLArch MLA AALU
Stephanie Zhou
Designer BLArch MUD
Kelsey Hsia
Designer BLArch MASLA
The Firm
Joe H. Zhou Landscape Architects Inc. is a collaborative landscape architecture practice based in Vancouver, Canada, dedicated to creating meaningful and sustainable spaces. Founded by Joe H. Zhou, our studio of four dedicated team members works across a variety of scales to elevate project performance from concept to completion, delivering landscapes that are both thoughtful and enduring. Driven by creativity and grounded in practicality, our team embraces hand-drawn studies to uncover the essence of place and explore the design principles that shape timeless landscapes.
Since 2005, Joe has been leading his landscape architecture team based in Vancouver, lending his expertise to over a hundred projects across BC and Canada. Joe's profound bond with Vancouver, a world-renowned livable city, and has leveraged his extensive design experience to shape the city's public parks and private developments through a variety of public and private projects. With a portfolio of both public and private commissioned projects, Joe has played a significant role in enhancing the outdoor spaces and open parks throughout Vancouver over the past decades. He has collaborated with major municipalities and developers, including the City of Vancouver, City of Burnaby, City of Coquitlam, Metro Vancouver, District of West Vancouver, BC Housing, Concord Pacific, Ledingham McAllister, Polygon, Aquilini, Concert, Marcon, Peterson, Seacliff, Chard, Keltic and more.
Joe Zhou is a registered landscape architect in British Columbia with experience in award-winning projects. He has collaborated on initiatives involving First Nations communities and recently earned the Certificate of Four Seasons of Reconciliation, an Indigenous cultural awareness program. He was formerly an Associate at PWL Partnership, the leading landscape architectural firm in Vancouver, where he worked for 11 years and led the design process on a range of significant projects. His pride in contributing to the city's thriving urban landscape is evident in his work, and he is passionate about creating designs that enrich the lives of Vancouver's residents and visitors alike.