Mike Thomas

Born and raised at The Mount (Bay of Plenty), Mike’s late teens and early 20's were influenced by two forces. He knew from an early age that the sciences were what he wanted to do. Secondly, he had itchy feet.

By his early 20's he had lived and worked in Sydney, travelled Israel, India, Nepal and Thailand. It was in the UK that Mike got involved in landscape construction. Wanting more upon his return to New Zealand, Mike qualified as a Landscape Architect where his first project was one of the country’s largest lakeside restorations, Lake Horowhenua.

Mike’s experience working in Hong Kong and China allowed him to witness how landscape architecture can influence city making. “We won four international design competitions, working with widely dispersed multi-disciplinary teams, led by me. It was rewarding to apply an approach where cities occupy landscapes and ecological systems, bringing cities closer to nature and restoring some of their natural systems,” he says. “The opportunities involved master planning whole ‘chunks’ of cities.”

Today, Mike leads a 15-strong national Landscape Architecture team across Jasmax’s locations. Advocating an interdisciplinary approach to design, Mike’s broader team is closely aligned to and integrated with the architectural practice across all sectors.

His philosophy is a driving force behind the close integration of the two disciplines: to interconnect the built environment with our natural one. He is interested in “designing Aotearoa,” shifting the design of our built environments towards a look and feel that reflects us, as a South Pacific community.

Mike is most recently known for his involvement on Christchurch’s definitive South Frame Project, An Accessible City and for his design of the 13-kilometre Te Whau Pathway – a major commuter cycle and walking route, linking Auckland’s East and West coasts.

Mike is warm, creative as well as practical and easy to work with. He is renowned for the value that he brings to collaborative projects. Mike remains passionately interested in Aotearoa New Zealand, its people, environment and values.