the journey towards
CO-DESIGNING WITH COUNTRY

Country-led co-design advisory and facilitation

HONOURING IS A PRACTICE OF deep listening

To Country, to self, to the way we re-awaken memories of the cultural landscape for our projects

Honouring supports architects, creative leaders, built environment professionals and project stakeholders to integrate a Country-led approach, into their work and ways of thinking.

Through advisory, creative guidance and facilitation, it weaves together design and embodied awareness together with indigenous and ancient ways of relating to land and place — into one integrated, living practice.

honouring interwoven…

Honouring operates interchangeably through three different pathways.
Read more about Honouring Projects. And you’re welcome to get in touch for Cultural Immersions or Embodied Leadership Support.

HONOURING COUNTRY

Aboriginal-Led Cultural immersions on ancient lands to deepen awareness of Country and living landscape.

HONOURING PROJECTS

Country-led facilitation and co-design consultancy for architects, designers, and built environment professionals.

HONOURING leadership

Leadership through a practice of embodied deep listening through movement, stillness, and awareness of natural cycles.

  • Honouring brings together a unique combination of expertise in architecture and urban design excellence, government design review insight, and long-term lived experience alongside Aboriginal communities.

    Through Connecting and Designing with Country, we support project teams to deliver meaningful outcomes aligned with the NSW Connecting with Country Framework, particularly for State Significant Development (SSD) and State Significant Infrastructure (SSI) projects.

    We help translate Country-based knowledge, cultural values, and community aspirations into practical project outcomes and strategic opportunities. The result is stronger design quality, support for approval processes, and places with a distinct sense of identity, purpose, and belonging—creating lasting value for Country and community.

honouring relationships…

It all started with establishing relationships and building trust over time… Whilst architecture designs buildings, Honouring is conceived as a way of designing relationships first— between land, people and time, integrating it into the design process.

Traditional Owners

Yoga Teachers

Architects

Academics

Educators

Facilitators

Cultural Guides

Cultural Leaders

Cultural Rangers

Traditional Custodians

Knowledge Holders

Indigenous Artists

honouring PLACES…

It all continues by tracing the Countries and landscapes that hold meaning within this work… places connected through ancestry, belonging, lived experience, and relationships built over time. Together, they form a map of connection — between people, story and Country.

NOONGAR

KUNWINJKU COUNTRY

BIRIPI

ANAIWAN

DHARUG

GADIGAL

Living Systems

Wildlife

Bioregions

Earth Systems

Flora

Ecosystems

Habitats

Ancestral Lands

Homelands

Seasonal Cycles

Remote Communities

Mother Earth

Fauna

Cultural Landscapes

Geological Formations

Hydrology

Father Sky

Fire Ecology

who holds this work

Honouring is not a solo journey.
Architect Founder works with her partner, the Indigenous cultural advisor for Honouring. They have lived and worked with Aboriginal communities for decades, establishing bonds with people who walk alongside this work, each from their own Country, their own knowledge, their own practice.

founders

cristina aranzubia
& Nik Wheatley

Gadigal & Dharug Country - Sydney NSW
Kunwinjku Country - Arnhem Land NT
Biripi & Anaiwan Country - Mid North Coast NSW

Honouring is held by Cristina and Nik, through a shared commitment to deep listening, cultural respect, and connection to Country.

Cristina brings her background as an architect and educator for over 20 years, working in Indigenous projects and guidance as studio owner and for Government, since almost 10 years ago.

Nik, a proud Anaiwan Aboriginal Country man and cultural advisor, brings cultural knowledge grounded in Aboriginal family lineage and long-standing relationships with Traditional Owners across Australia.

Together, their work sits at the intersection of architecture, embodied practice, and Indigenous ways of knowing.

Honouring draws on Cristina's Sydney decade of leadership across architecture, academia, government design review and strategic guidance. Her relationships with Traditional Owners have grown through a shared appreciation of ancient ways of knowing and being.

Nik, with Aboriginal roots from Anaiwan Country and raised on Dharug Country in the Blue Mountains, used to support younger indigenous generations through music, mentorship, and community connection.

GADIGAL & DHARUG COUNTRY

Sydney NSW

Nik has spent more than twenty years walking alongside Traditional Owners as a cultural tour leader across the Top End, currently advocating for the Nayinggyl and Nardji T.O. families.

Cristina's connection began through a Country-led co-design project supporting an Aboriginal Arts Centre in Arnhem Land.

Their paths eventually crossed on Country, where they became family and, together with their daughter, were welcomed into the Kunwinjku kinship system.

KUNWINJKU COUNTRY

Kakadu National Park
& Arnhem Land NT

Honouring is grounded in family, friendship, and ongoing learning.

Nik's Anaiwan roots connect to family living on Biripi Country, where he worked as a Cultural Ranger with NSW National Parks and delivered education programs at Sea Acres Rainforest Centre.

Today, Biripi Country remains a second home, where as family they continue to deepen relationships with Country, culture, and community.

BIRIPI COUNTRY

Mid North Coast NSW

from those who’ve listened

Experience includes work with:

Organisations shown represent projects, employment, advisory roles, collaborations, or consulting experience.

every journey towards country begins with a single act of listening

If this speaks to something in you, we’d love to hear from you — whether you have a project in mind, a question, or are exploring how to bring Country more meaningfully into your work.

info@honouring.com.au
M: 0468 317 794

Aboriginal Cultural Advisor
Nik Wheatley
Nominated Architect
Cristina Aranzubia - ARB NSW 9688

LET’S CONNECT