When you set foot in our historic headquarters building Laniākea, you wander into an open-air concept that stretches through the entire space--from our breezeway “loggia” to the sun-drenched pool. It almost makes you forget the hustle-and-bustle of downtown Honolulu.

Another unique feature: the lush foliage and flowers that surround the building.

You may not find all of them on the property today, but these are some of the plants and flowers originally assembled for Laniākea at the time of its opening in 1927.

Hibiscus, Lavender, Duranta, Maroon and Red Ti and Pink Oleanders added colors to the newly opened Laniākea in 1927.

While Julia Morgan was highly celebrated for her design of the building, another woman architect directed the landscape designing. Catherine Jones Richards carefully arranged the various flowers that grew in Hawai'i to complement the building Morgan designed. Richards became Hawaii’s first licensed landscape architect.

Catherine Jones Richards was a pioneer in the field of landscape architecture in Hawaii (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: February 22, 1930)

A descendant of missionaries in Honolulu, Catherine studied landscape architecture at the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in Massachusetts in the early 1920’s. She also studied in Europe. Upon returning to Honolulu, she began her practice in 1926.

Even while being away from her home of Hawaii, Catherine did not neglect to learn “things Hawaiian.” When she opened a studio in 1928, she shared with a local newspaper her commitment to work as a landscape architect in Honolulu for the rest of her life by devoting all her energies to helping to “beautify the city.”

“My aloha was doubled during my absence. Always I have felt the call of the Islands.” She said she wanted to do her work in Hawai'i for the rest of her life and she did just that.

The Honolulu Advertiser: August 19, 1928

Around the time of her studio opening, Catherine invited landscape architect Robert O. Thompson to join her practice. He was a native of Michigan who met Catherine while he was studying at Harvard. In 1934, the two business partners married – and under the new name of Thompson and Thompson, the dynamic duo worked on major projects across town from public buildings to parks, making them the foremost landscape designers in Hawaii.

Catherine Jones Richards and Robert O. Thompson created the landscape architecture firm Thompson and Thompson and became life and professional partners.

Their names often appeared in the gardening section of local newspapers. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: September 20, 1930)

A short list of their works in Hawai'i includes:

Honolulu Museum of Arts
The National Cemetery of the Pacific
The Doris Duke Residence
Ewa & Waialua Plantation
Pacific Club
Board of Water Supply station grounds
Tripler Army Hospital

In addition to their passion for landscape design, the couple also seemed to have shared a common interest as car-enthusiasts. These two Nash “400” cars were delivered to them in 1929. (The Honolulu Advertiser: June 23, 1929)

The couple’s design work for Ala Moana Park

Catherine was a charter member of the Outdoor Circle. The couple received various awards and recognitions throughout their careers. During World War II, Mr. Thompson was reportedly in charge of camouflage planning for army installations.

Although their names were often associated with large projects, the couple also wrote and spoke to home gardeners about the joy of landscaping. In part reflecting the times in which she lived, Catherine once said, “Landscape architecture is, or should be, as important to a house as clothes are to a woman. A lovely woman can so often be marred by ugly clothes, and a lovely house ruined by horrible planning, a terrible approach and awful grades.”

Laniākea in 1927 overlooking the pool from Loggia

Julia Morgan used the floral concept in the design of the front doors, highlighting flowers that grow in Hawai'i including hibiscus and plumeria

Julia Morgan and Catherine Jones Thompson – two female architects who together made Laniākea Hawaii’s first major structure designed completely by women.

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO