Designing & Connecting with Country

Honouring Country through design,

weaving First Nations wisdom, values, and connection to land.

First Nations-led Connecting with Country and Designing with Country advisory. We help developers, architects, and government embed cultural authority, narrative, and spatial principles into planning, design, and statutory submissions across Sydney and NSW.

Narrative-Driven Design

Our approach starts with crafting narratives that form the foundation for culturally conscious design.

We partner with design firms to provide the cultural lens and insight that stimulate creativity, helping architects and engineers design spaces that honour First Nations perspectives and connections to Country.

Through our narrative-driven approach, we bring forward the stories, values, and philosophies of First Nations culture, ensuring that each design resonates deeply with the land and community it inhabits. By embedding these narratives into the design process, we support the creation of spaces that are functional, visually compelling, and culturally enriched. YarnnUp’s work becomes the guiding spirit behind every line and structure, shaping places that foster genuine connection, reflection, and respect for the world’s oldest living culture.

What is Designing with Country?

Designing with Country is a collaborative, First Nations-led design approach that embeds Traditional Owner knowledge, values and relationships with Country into built-environment projects from the earliest stages of planning and design.  

The approach requires genuine partnership with Traditional Owner communities who are of the Country where a project is located, with meaningful decision-making power throughout the design process. Rather than consultation alone, Designing with Country positions Traditional Owners as active partners in shaping project priorities, design directions and outcomes. Their cultural authority and knowledge guide how the project understands, responds to and cares for Country across planning, design and delivery. 

What is Connecting with Country

Connecting with Country is the terminology used by the NSW Government Architect’s Connecting with Country Framework to describe an approach to planning, designing and delivering built-environment projects that is informed by First Nations knowledge, values and relationships with Country.

In NSW planning and policy contexts, Connecting with Country is the established government terminology. It shares many principles and practices with Designing with Country, but the terms are not interchangeable. Designing with Country carries a stronger expectation of First Nations leadership, cultural authority and decision-making by Traditional Owners of the Country on which a project is located.  

Services

Designing with Country Consulting Services

We work collaboratively to bring forward the deep-rooted stories, values, and insights of First Nations communities, ensuring that each project embodies authenticity, respect, and a sense of place.

Cultural Narrative Development

We develop foundational narratives that reflect First Nations perspectives on land, history, and cultural values. These narratives guide the entire design process, providing architects and engineers with insights that help shape culturally respectful and meaningful spaces.

Consultative Partnership with Design Firms

We collaborate closely with design professionals, offering insights into cultural protocols, storytelling elements, and visual cues that enhance design concepts. By partnering with us, design firms gain access to a cultural lens that enriches their approach and ensures alignment with First Nations values.

Place-Based Storytelling

We emphasise the unique characteristics of each place, integrating First Nations stories and knowledge specific to the land. Through place-based storytelling, we help design teams create spaces that resonate with the history and spirit of the land and its people.

Workshops and Cultural Insights

We provide workshops and educational sessions for design teams, offering insights into First Nations cultural heritage, fostering a design process that is informed, respectful, and aligned with cultural protocols.

Artistic and Cultural Curation

In partnership with artists and cultural practitioners, we curate design elements, artwork, and visual aesthetics that reflect and celebrate First Nations culture. 

Sustainable and Culturally Aligned Practices

We offer guidance on integrating practices that respect the land, prioritise environmental stewardship, and reflect the long-term thinking embedded in First Nations culture. This includes suggestions for materials, landscape integration, and ecological considerations.

Meeting Connecting with Country requirements on your project

YarnnUp can your project team through a Connecting with Country process and help develop a clear response to relevant planning and assessment requirements. We advise developers and design teams on engaging appropriately with Traditional Owners and First Nations communities, establishing cultural authority and developing a place-based narratives that can meaningfully inform the project.  We document the engagement process, key findings and project reposes in reports that can support SSD, DA design review and government tender requirements. 

Ready to Design with Country?

Partner with YarnnUp to create spaces that are culturally enriched, visually compelling, and deeply connected to Country. Let’s collaborate to honour the land and its stories.

Deliverables

Work with YarnnUp

Our deliverables are designed to guide and enrich the design process, ensuring cultural integrity and meaningful outcomes:

Cultural Narrative Document

A detailed narrative that informs and guides the design process, emphasising cultural values, historical context, and community perspectives.

Guidance documents that provide insights into cultural aesthetics, storytelling elements, and visual themes for architects and engineers to incorporate.

Interactive sessions tailored for design teams, focusing on First Nations cultural insights, protocols, and collaborative brainstorming for informed design.

Recommendations for integrating First Nations-inspired artwork, patterns, or motifs that align with the narrative and enhance cultural resonance in the design.

Portfolio

Recent Projects

Our portfolio showcases the transformative impact of storytelling, design, and collaboration. See how YarnnUp Collective reshapes brand engagement with First Nations cultures, creating authentic connections and inspiring change.

Davenport Campbell

FAQs
Can YarnnUp assist with the tender submission process as it relates to Aboriginal Design Principles or Connecting with Country?

Yes, YarnnUp can assist throughout the process of tender submission, helping you to formulate a strategy on how to best meet the criteria in place to ensure success when there is a requirement for Aboriginal Design principles and Connecting with Country as a part of a project.

Yes, YarnnUp thrives on building partnerships with its clients and our service is always circular as we want to ensure things are done authentically. Our goal is to set your organisation up for success particularly when it comes to sensitive topics such as Aboriginal Design principles and Connecting with Country.

YarnnUp’s service is all inclusive. As the cultural authority assigned to your project, we will act as an extension of your business.

Yes, YarnnUp will develop a detailed First Nations engagement plan that considers all relevant stakeholders that can provide value to the project. YarnnUp has a broad network that includes local land councils through to significant members of the community that hold strong influence within the design and construction space.

Yes, YarnnUp will have a working paper throughout the project and conclude with a final report that represents the findings and recommendations as it relates to First Nations cultural protocols, suggestions and actions. This will be a comprehensive report that is all inclusive of the needs of the client when looking to activate the project.

YarnnUp has relationships and preferred supplier agreements with designers and architects that can assist with your project requirements.
The Government Architects NSW (GANSW) Connecting with Country Framework is a guide for embedding Aboriginal knowledge and connection to Country into planning and design. It encourages project teams to prioritise Country from the outset, working with cultural authority rather than applying symbolic gestures. State Design Review Panels increasingly expect major projects to show how they respond to it – which is where our advisory support comes in.
It depends on the approval pathway and planning requirements applying to the project. The NSW Connecting with Country Framework does not introduce a universal planning requirement. However, a response to Country may be required where it is identified through-specific requirements, such as SEARs or design review requirements.  
 
For State Significant Development (SSD) and projects undergoing State Design Review Panel (SDRP), the relevant SEARs, Study Requirements and design excellence requirements should be checked to determine what response to Country is expected.  
 
Considering Country early can strengthen the design process, support engagement with Aboriginal communities and help projects respond effectively to planning and design-review requirements. Talk to our team about what applies to your specific project and approval pathway.  
Yes. We work as an extension of your design team – alongside architects, interior designers, landscape architects, and urban designers – assisting with interpreting place-based cultural narratives into design-actionable guidance for their disciplines. Whether it’s spatial layout and materials, public domain and planting, or wayfinding and interiors, we provide clear cultural direction that integrates seamlessly with each consultant’s work.
As early as possible – ideally before masterplanning or Concept Design for your Development Application. Country is most authentically and effectively embedded when it shapes design from the ground up, rather than being applied late as a layer on a fixed scheme. Early engagement enables proper relationships with Traditional Owner communities, giving the process breathing room to establish the place-based cultural narrative that can genuinely influence design and development decisions. This includes built form, landscape, public domain, and planning decisions, ultimately strengthening the developments considerations for environmental, social and economic impacts, and public interest.
Connecting with County is a framework/process through which a project team engages with local First Nations communities and Country and responds to that knowledge in planning, design and delivery.  
 
Designing with Country is a First Nations-led design practice grounded in First Nations knowledge systems, cultural obligations and people of Country.  

Aboriginal Design Principles

Aboriginal Desing Principles can also be understood as Country-centred design principles that place Country, culture and community at the centre of design decision-making.   

This means recognising Country as a living entity and considering how design can care for and strengthen relationships with Country. Principles include place-based storytelling grounded in the specific Country of a project; custodianship and long-term thinking that considers impacts beyond the immediate project lifecycle; and community authorship, ensuring Traditional Owners and First Nations communities have meaningful role in shaping how their knowledge and stories inform design. YarnnUp helps project teams embed these principles through cultural engagements, place-based narratives and design guidance.

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