Danée Marie Lambourne, founder of Eden Projects Ltd.
VICTORIA – For two decades, Eden Projects Ltd. has been transforming outdoor spaces across Vancouver Island with expert, full-service landscape design services. Known for assembling some of the Island’s top tradespeople, the build teams follow a process-driven, budget-conscious approach to create elegant and functional outdoor environments for any type of client.
At the heart of their design process is a focus on clear deliverables and a deep understanding of each client’s goals and vision. Eden Projects specializes in turning garden spaces into meaningful, lasting experiences that inspire and embolden. But after 20 years, the company wants to service its clients even further.
“These days, we are focusing our energy into helping people understand that Eden’s agency rests in being a construction firm that builds from design up,” says company founder, Danée Marie Lambourne. “When it comes to properties with Indigenous Heritage Conservation tickets, geotechnical considerations or complex project work, we want the community to know we have the knowledge, experience, confidence and trade relations to execute on any obstacle or opportunity in front of us.”
For those that know her, Lambourne is an incredibly passionate outdoor enthusiast who boasts numerous titles including founder, creative director, Certified Horticultural Technician and Therapeutic Horticulturist. A quick conversation with her clearly depicts just how enthusiastic and engrossed she is by her work, and how deeply she cares about the artistry and functionality of outdoor living spaces.
Eden’s custom approach blends lifestyle aspirations with the scale and gifts of each landscape, creating outdoor spaces that feel like home, and Lambourne truly guides each project with an intuitive touch.
Eden Projects team combines construction and design to produce stunning outdoor spaces
“Through our renovation work, I learned how to network and lean into local trade in the area and amongst the industry, from suppliers, fabricators and specialists, to develop innovative ideas to get the impossible done right,” says Lambourne.
“When Eden was in its infancy, design was a means to the end. While I studied design, we were essentially a design-to-build firm. This model shifted when we recognized the value of the blueprint and the integrity of good design.”
“Then when COVID hit, there was sort of like an onboarding of an equalization, because we were always promoting maximizing outdoor living space so that you can fluidly transfer from house to outdoors and then suddenly it is the same for everybody because they can no longer travel. People were recognizing the value in their own spaces and saw spending money at home as basically their only option.”
It was during this transition that Lambourne was able to grow the construction and design leg of the business and create a stronger practice within her division. The team was taking on more ambitious and bold designs that were higher construction commitment while also bidding out more builds throughout the year.
The time during COVID also challenged the business to step up and learn how to navigate difficult scenarios with more business savvy. When faced with labour shortages, shipping delays and price inflations, Lambourne and her team learned to pivot around certain corners to get the job done.
She also mentions gaining further knowledge on complex geotechnical concepts that, at the beginning of her career, she would have leaned on others to organize. Now, she is confident in many different types of landscape labours like ocean front and tree protection zones, climate and environmental protected zones, Heritage sites and much more.
These experiences have all combined to create a stronger company that is ready for any project, and Lambourne is excited to take on any new assignment, particularly as the summer weather starts to arrive on the West Coast.
“On top of running Eden, I’m also a mother, I am a wife, and I work hard to balance my business responsibilities with the role I play in my family – but I love the art of project execution, I absolutely love it,” says Lambourne. “I love working with clients and trades, I would say I’m much more comfortable out on the construction site, with my boots on the ground, than I am anywhere else.”
