One Water, Climate-Adaptive Solutions, and Multi-Disciplinary Design with Kate Forester & Laura Squillace

We sit down with Kate Forester (Landscape Architect, ASLA Oregon CBAC) and Laura Squillace (Architect, Green Hammer) for a working session about process: who gets called first and why it matters, the early decisions that shape everything after (a dry well or a rain garden is a choice with consequences), and how a landscape can stack functions the way a high-performance building does. We discuss One Water, climate-adaptive solutions, and why buildings and landscapes should be designed together. Kate works at the scale of rivers, wetlands, and habitat corridors. Laura designs zero-energy and regenerative buildings, including a project going for Living Building certification. Both say the same thing: neither of them can do the work alone. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Start 00:34 Meet The Guests 02:33 Defining Regenerative Design 04:18 Origin Stories 07:35 Stewardship And Place 08:49 Designing With The Land 11:12 Ecology And Regulation 14:34 One Water Mindset 16:17 Coastal Resilience Training 20:00 Fire And Water Systems 22:28 Collaborating Early 24:13 Living Machines Teaser 24:29 Living Machine Basics 25:47 Why It Feels So Hard 27:20 Selling It To Cities 29:58 One Water Rain Gardens 32:58 Rethinking Native Plants 34:12 Climate Adaptive Science 36:56 Nurseries And Habitat Layers 40:05 Oak Savanna Senior Community 43:18 Teaching Courage And Tribe 46:36 What Keeps Them Going 48:21 Closing Thoughts This episode was a live recording of Common Ground, a Sustainable Building Week 2026 event. Follow Kate: Website: https://www.herrerainc.com/ Herrera on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herreraenvironmental/ Follow Laura: Website: https://greenhammer.com/ Green Hammer on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenhammerinc/ Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.