Chris Phillips is a Founding Principal of PFS Studio and a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. His contributions to Vancouver’s reputation as one of the most livable cities in the world are well known and appreciated throughout government, the private sector and the design community. Chris is a highly sought-after professional due to his collaborative nature coupled with a keen ability to create inspirational, intelligent and memorable design solutions for a wide variety of open space projects. In 2001, Chris was invested into the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) College of Fellows; in 2020, he was honoured the CSLA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Chris has authored many of the most noted award-winning urban design and public spaces throughout Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest. Over the past 35 years he has led the planning and design of various scaled public realm projects. As Principal in Charge of many seminal projects that include the redevelopment of Hastings Park, Richmond City Hall, the Olympic Speed Skating Oval, River Green Waterfront and Southeast False Creek Plaza in Vancouver, Chris has helped establish PFS Studio as a leader in Canadian open space design.
His recent work on large scale site planning and community visioning within Vancouver and the surrounding area includes Oakridge, Langara Gardens, Little Mountain and the Northshore Innovation District, where he worked closely with a private development group that included the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.
For the past 20 years Chris has worked on the redevelopment of the UBC Campus, where he is considered the campus landscape architect of record. He has delivered a multitude of projects within the framework of an overall campus master plan that he played a central role in developing. These diverse projects include both educational and residential developments in addition to larger scale plans for University Commons and the Stadium Road Neighbourhood. He also led the site design for the First Nations Longhouse landscape and the recently completed and award winning Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre.
As one of the most accomplished landscape architects in Canada, Chris is consistently invited to give lectures, sit on design juries, and speak in public forums. He is keenly interested in the integration of context, metaphor, and meaning, and their collective contribution to the design of urban open space. He is also committed to the integration of public art into his work whenever possible.