Shortly after graduating from the University of Toronto in 1977, Carolyn Woodland joined forces with Michael Hough and Jim Stansbury in Toronto, to build the landmark firm of Hough Stansbury Woodland.
She would remain with the firm over 25 years, shaping a widely diverse practice in landscape architecture and planning. Yet in a career that ultimately spanned over four decades, her trajectory would demonstrate an expanding integration of disciples, and a talent for pushing professional boundaries. She bridged private consulting with teaching, and then broadened her scope again to include 17 years of public service with the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).
From the early years, the partners of Hough Stansbury Woodland were pioneers of ecological urban design, demonstrating “design with nature” principles at work in our cities and open spaces. The firm advocated a radical shift in how city landscapes are designed, embedding ecological thinking into their work.
The firm (later Hough Woodland Naylor Dance Leinster) remained a testing ground, gaining traction and international recognition. Carolyn’s projects included such notable work as the Humber Bay Shores Park and the Rouge Park Management Plan (1991), and for the Royal Commission on the Future of Toronto Waterfront, the environmental plan for Garrison Common and the publication. Restoring Natural Habitats. With Hough, she developed early strategies for the Don River and Toronto Portlands.
During her final decade with the firm, with Carolyn at the helm (President, 1992-2002), the company’s work continued to exhibit the elegant integration of ecology into urban projects. Increasingly, these principles were adopted by the City of Toronto and its major waterfront agencies.
As well as receiving her planning accreditation from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (1997, University of Waterloo), Carolyn continued her adjunct teaching for the University of Toronto, lectured in institutions across the country, and was invited to serve the National Capital Commission on the Design, Planning and Asset Management Committee, becoming its first female Chair (1990 – Chair 1998-2003).
As a senior director with the TRCA (2002-2019), she oversaw environmental planning within 18 municipalities. She initiated the Toronto Ravine Strategy, participated in the important 2015 Coordinated Land Use Planning Review (led by David Crombie), and she directed the production of the award-winning “Living City Policies for Planning and Development in the Watersheds of TRCA,” which took these foundational principles to a new level. Her outstanding work was increasingly recognized with awards of excellence, including prestigious professional recognition from both the OPPI and the OALA (Public Practice, 2018 and Pinnacle, 2019).
After leaving the TRCA, she added to her volunteer legacy by serving as CSLA President (2021 – 2022). She is a respected facilitator, advisor, competition adjudicator and spokesperson, and a tireless advocate for the profession, working to build its political voice.
Other selected projects:
Hewlett Packard Headquarters (Mississauga), original Lakefront Promenade Park Master Plan (Mississauga), Humberwood Centre (Etobicoke), Twenty Valley Tourism Study (Niagara), Confederation Boulevard – Major’s Hills Park sector (Ottawa), Cobourg Waterfront Development Plan, Seaton Lands Cultural Heritage Assessment, Discovery Routes of the Near North, Town of Newcastle Recreation /Leisure Master Plan, Owen Sound Downtown & Waterfront Master Plan, Arsenal Lands Master Plan (Toronto/Mississauga)
Photo Credits
1. The Living City Policies
2. The Rouge Park
3. City of Toronto - the Mayor's Panel
4. Infrastructure construction - City of Vaughan
5. Humber Bay Shores Park (Etobicoke)
6. Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Planning (Richmond Hill)
7. Award Magazine - HWNDL - Hough Woodland Naylor Dance Leinster, June 1998. IMAGE/Courtesy of Carolyn Woodland
