Landscape Archive Foundation The Landscape Archive →

This portal publishes the Foundation’s open specification — schema modules, worked examples, and conformance assessment tools. For institutional context and the draft charter, begin on the Foundation site.

Foundation overview

Landscape Archive Foundation · open metadata standard · v1.1.0 draft

185 open landscape metadata standard

The public reference specification for Australian landscape architecture — botanical taxonomy, site context, mid-century climate screening, environmental risk, sustainability disclosure, cultural protocol, and BIM interoperability. The 169 profile remains supported for legacy exchange records. The published layer comprises structural definitions only; it does not include species inventories or client records.

Standards
185 (current) · 169 (supported)
Exchange profiles
1.1.0 (185) · 1.0.0 (169)
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Canonical source
GitHub release
Validate a bundle Schema manifest Canonical specification 185 example 169 example Badge criteria CLI validator 185 crosswalk

Founding supporters wanted

We're inviting practices, universities, councils, and Traditional Owner organisations to shape v1 of the standard. Joining doesn't affect your independence, and there's no cost to begin.

Read the founding invitation Governance & charter Express interest

We'll only use your email to contact you about the Foundation standard — no marketing, no sharing.

How it works

  1. Independent organisations (practices, universities, councils) keep full control of operations.
  2. The open standard provides shared JSON fields any BIM, CAD, or GIS tool can read.
  3. Validators check exports locally (browser or CLI); qualifying projects earn a Foundation Approved badge.
  4. Commercial tools (e.g. The Landscape Archive) implement the standard and may sell BIM assets on top.

See also how the standard works and commercial separation.

Schema modules

Selling plants & families

The open standard is open and free. Landscape Archive and other vendors can still sell Revit families, shop packs, and Library subscriptions — commerce sits in the implementation layer, not in the public vocabulary.

Independent stewardship

This portal is hosted separately from landscapearchive.com.au, so the community standard stays neutral while commercial products evolve. The Foundation holds the open schema; vendors compete on implementation quality.

Open source & licence

The 185/169 specifications and schema documentation are published under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 — free for attribution, non-commercial reference, without modification. Commercial implementation requires a separate licence from The Landscape Archive Pty Ltd.

Landscape Archive application code, connectors, TLA Brain automation, and canonical species datasets remain under separate commercial terms. The Foundation standard layer is explicitly carved out from commercial IP.

How the standard is governed

The Foundation is the intended independent steward of the open standard — not a software vendor. The draft charter encodes four mechanisms:

  1. Written charter — the constitution every supporter signs.
  2. Two-tier power split — explicit reserved powers; anything unlisted stays with members.
  3. Council & voting — representatives vote; super-majority for schema 2.0 and charter changes.
  4. Independent arbitrator — neutral, binding dispute resolution over the charter.

It starts as an unincorporated working group — no new company — stepping up to an incorporated association only later, and only if it needs to hold assets or take grants.

Foundation governance page Governance notes Founding charter (draft) Legal options (no company) Incorporation checklist Objects & rules Inaugural minutes Founding invitation

Downloads

v1 JSON field names retain a legacy federation prefix for compatibility; Foundation branding applies to governance and public documentation.