about us.

Yes& Studio is a landscape architecture and urban design practice based in Cape Town, working to improve the South African public realm. We work with public- and private-sector clients and collaborators to navigate urban complexity and deliver thoughtful, well-crafted environments.

Our projects range from public space and market upgrades to urban design frameworks, design guidelines, co-creation processes, and landscape architecture, from landscape masterplanning through to implementation. Our work is collaborative and interdisciplinary, shaped by close engagement with project teams, communities, and stakeholders.

We aim to better understand the dynamic relationships between people and places and to design spaces with meaning and beauty. We see design as a tool for positive change, supporting everyday life, ecological resilience, and meaningful social interaction. Design can be both rigorous and joyful.

what we do.

Landscape

Our work spans from landscape masterplans through to detailed design and implementation. We our landscape projects have included public realm upgrades, streetscapes, markets, recreational frameworks and multi-residential developments. We believe that well designed landscapes can create opportunities for better social interactions that bring people together. Each project is rooted in context, narratives and the everyday experiences for people living alongside nature.

Urban Design

Our urban design work focuses on urban design frameworks, precinct planning, and design guidelines that both support planning processes and help places develop and evolve over time. We work across scales and disciplines to translate complex urban conditions into spatial strategies that support each project and creates public value.

Co-Creation

We believe in the power of collaborative problem solving and use co-creation as a structured design approach to integrate local knowledge and diverse expertise into projects. Through workshops, open houses and collaborative research, designs can benefit from having a wide range of inputs from stakeholders and communities who know their spaces best, as well as interdisciplinary teams that bring richness to the design process.

Street furniture

We create holistically designed, robust places that are legible, well connected and joyful to use. Our street furniture and public-realm elements form part of an integrated approach to place-making within our projects and bring joy to the places we create. 

Architecture

Our spaces benefit from an integrated and contextually sensitive architectural approach, with small scale architectural projects in support of the public realm.

our team.

Six people, three women and three men, are gathered together in a living room, sitting and standing around a couch. They are all smiling and appear to be enjoying each other's company. The setting is casual and indoor.

  • AMY THOMPSON

    DIRECTOR

    contact: amy@yesand.studio

    PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT & URBAN DESIGNER

  • ILANA STEENKAMP

    HEAD OF URBAN DESIGN

    contact: ilana@yesand.studio

    URBAN DESIGNER AND PROFESSIONAL ARCHITECT

  • NICOLA CHIDYAONGA

    CANDIDATE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

  • HYLTON GOATLEY

    CANDIDATE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

  • A woman with shoulder-length hair smiling, standing near a window with metal framing, in black and white.

    CRYSTALLE DAVEL

    DESIGNER

  • GEMMA

    GEMMA DOBRIN

    CANDIDATE ARCHITECT