We help you dream big, but know that it’s the small things that matter...
Our landscapes provide instant impact, while accounting for all seasons of change...
We embrace flexibility, knowing that the best spaces function just as well empty as full...
“We make landscapes for all. We design, envision, and construct in collaboration with our clients. We appreciate sites for what they were, what they are, and what they might become.”
We make things, we are builders, fabricators, creators, and designers. As a multidisciplinary construction and landscape architecture practice we are interested in design at every scale, from the city to the object. We believe that collaboration and experimentation are the root of a project’s success. As designers and builders who sit at the same table, we work together to solve problems at the masterplan and detail scale, linking all aspects of a project’s context, programmatic needs, and materiality.
Our build team has been cosntructing the Twin Cities best landscapes for over 30 years. Led by Bob Palmer and Scott Frampton, we are known for excellence at all scales. From sensitive shoreline restorations to meticulous high-end residential projects, the construction team has seen and done it all. Our expertise in construction stems from a love of materiality and craftsmanship. Moreover we believe in providing value to our clients by leveraging the design/build model and pride ourselves on delivering projects on time, vision, and budget.
Our design team is led by Jonathan Blaseg with a vast portfolio of work that spans the globe. The design studio has garnered praise for work ranging from minimalist backyards to urban parks. Their work has been recognized nationally by the AIA, LILA, and ASLA, with exhibitions at the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum and Cube Gallery . Furthermore, the studio stays active with design critiques at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design where Jonathan has been an adjunct faculty member since 2012. The design team’s goal is simple: make sense of a place via solutions that are derived from a site and its users. They seek out ideas, constructs, and materials that are in concert with the region, architecture, and client mission.
Through a process of collaboration, experimentation and questioning, the firm’s work embraces the complexities of each site with quiet clarity and ecological integrity. We seek not to recreate nature in our work, but rather to redefine natural frameworks and transform them into innovative solutions for comprehensively designed environments.
INSTALLATION
• Residential
• Commercial
• Softscapes
• Hardscapes
• Shorelines
• Masonry
• Stormwater Management
• Native Restoration
• Riprap
• Excavation & Grading
• Lighting
• Irrigation
• Maintenance
• Retaining Walls
• Boulder Walls
• Foundations
• Pergolas
• Fabrication
• Wood Decks
• Pools & Water Features
• Maintenance
DESIGN
• Permitting
• Cost Estimation
• Master Planning
• Site Design
• Planting Design
• Drainage Design
• Wayfinding Design
• Fabrication
• 3-D Modeling
• Rendering/Visualization
• Animation & Video Editing
• Structural Design
• Pool Design
• Client Relation Management
• Project Administration
CLARIFY PLACE & SPACE
Our projects are characterized by their ability to feel at-ease and appropriate for their context. We have become recognized for our strength in building identity and completing projects that exhibit an understanding of clients and their needs. Through the life of a project we emphasize deduction and simplicity as a way to maintain focus.
CRAFTSMANSHIP & DETAIL
We know that the details matter and are often the opportunity to make a project personal and refined. We believe that the material relationships of a project are often the crux of its success. No matter the scale of a project, our construction team works hand-in-hand with the design team in order ensure quality control and seamless perfection.
UNITING SITE & STRUCTURE
Our goal is simple, make sense of a place. We trust that our job is to find resolutions inherent to a site, we believe they are already there. Our training in minimalism is reflected in our holistic frameworks and attention to detail; we focus on installing designs that are responsive and remain relevant through many years of change.
MOVING LIFE OUTDOORS
Our sites are about people and the life that surrounds them, we listen to our clients to understand how they live and seek to amplify that in our landscapes. We always build upon a site’s existing character and embrace the opportunity to actively engage nature. We believe successful sites promote engagement and interaction.
We share a mutual love for the land, craft, and invention. We believe in design solutions that are framed by those who will live in the spaces we construct. We are client-centric and thus embrace the unique needs and tastes of each of our clients. We seek to highlight the importance of narrative in the landscape and prioritize involvement, intention, connection, material honesty, place-making, and discourse. We believe design impacts all elements of our daily life, shaping our ethos as a society and the health of our environment.
Our design and construction processes are always specific to a project, to a place, and to a client. We know that a successful project requires collaboration, to us this is a simple fact of our daily lives. We are trained in working together to solve problems and create better futures. Such partnerships are driven by our shared respect for the skills of each individual within the firm, as well as our admiration for our clients and consultants.
Our curiosity and interest in the making of landscapes is limitless. For this reason we offer a comprehensive suite of design services including site design, master planning, programming, project administration, cost-estimation, and visualization for urban, rural, residential, institutional, and commercial projects. Our construction team specializes in residential and commercial work, but our portfolio runs the gamut from crematoriums to prairie restorations, with a reputation for precise detailing and context-specific material installations.
Our team of designers and builders sit at the same table because we know that good ideas can come from anywhere. We hope that our work - our landscapes - are not a one-way vision, not controlled by a certain point-of-view, rather that they participate and contribute to our community’s ongoing dialogue with the built environment and nature.
We know the importance of process, doing things as well as we can rather than as fast as possible. We choose to make landscapes because its what we love to do; we choose to collaborate because we know its the right thing to do.
Introductions Vision Path CONSULT
Align Expectations & Reality
Code & Permitting reqs.
Establish Project Goals
Confirm Technical Scope
Site measurements
Establish next steps
Create Plan
DESIGN
Permitting & Approvals
Specs & Shop Drawings
Final Hardscape & Softscape
Establish Any Req. Phasing
Accurate Take-O s
Review Scope & Schedule
Concepts Precedents
Preferred Plan
Replace plants under warranty
Ongoing client communication
Change species as necessary
Observie site dynamics
Weeding, Irrigation, Fertilizing
General Cleanup
Assess Existing Conditions
Get to know each other
Talk through project goals
Review portfolio
Discuss Budget Expectations
Review Design & Build Options
Multiple design scenarios
Visualization & Illustrations
Softscape Hardscape
Collaboration To Finalize
Check Against Budget
SelectionsDocumentation
Pricing
REFINE
Client Communication
Integrate Subcontractors
Orderly & E cient Process
Client Updates
Site Observation By Designer
Close Out & Walk Through
MAINTAIN
PROCESS DESIGN VISUALIZATION & OPTIONS
We design with curiosity and the forefront of our process. When we show options our goal is to speed up the communication process with a client by finding things we both like and dislike. This breadth of consideration helps us to ‘fail faster’ and get to the root of what’s valuable in a project and meaningful to a client. We design in 3d because we know it’s the best way to communicate our ideas and allows us to see realistic views from outside-in as well as inside-out.
Our planting designs always consider a diversity of colors, textures, and plant architecture. Our goal is to create constant dynamics throughout the changing seasons. Our team still utilizes hand drawing - including our planting plans - in order to create a sense for the overall composition. Even construction plans often incorporate color in order provide clarity and intention for the install team.
MAKING YOUR PROJECT UNIQUE
Our team often finds the best inspiration through the reuse of materials. This project is an exaple where discarded limestone edging was turned into a centerpiece garden feature. During demolition the stones were carefully removed and later relaid horizontally in a gradient, with varying gaps to allow for plant growth. The irregular voids invite ground covers, succulents, and small flowers to weave through, softening the edges and adding vibrant life to the space. The three gardens are highly visible from the interior of the house, acting as living artwork, morphing through the seasons and providing an ever-changing view.
3d visualizations speed up and increase confidence in decision making. We know the importance of materialsthey have massive aesthetic and cost implications - therefore we must get them right! Working in design/build provides our team a practical understanding of materials: we are constantly considering new vs. timeless options and remain inspired by the challenge of material selection.
Location: Okoboji, IA
Project Type: Residential
Collaborators: PKA / Steffes / Dells
Role: Landscape Architect
Photography: Spacecrafting
DEEPHAVEN
Location: Woodland, MN
Project Type: Residential
Collaborators: PKA / JKS
Role: Landscape Architect & Builder
Photography: Spacecrafting
THUNDER LAKE
Location: Thunder Lake, MN
Project Type: Residential
Team: Charlie & Co. / L. Cramer Builders
Role: Landscape Architect & Builder
Photography: Spacecrafting
GLENBRAE CIRCLE
Location: Edina, MN
Project Type: Residential
Collaborators: Hoxie Homes / Everson Architect
Role: Landscape Architect & Builder
Photography: VonDeLinde
GOLDEN VALLEY
Location: Golden Valley, MN
Project Type: Residential
Collaborators: Everson Architect / Near & Streeter
Role: Landscape Architect & Builder
Photography: VonDeLinde
Location: Excelsior, MN
Project Type: Residential
Team: PKA / Streeter / Yond
Role: Landscape Architect
Photography: Spacecrafting
LAKE MARION
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Project Type: Residential
Collaborators: Charles Stinson Architects, Streeter & Associates
Awards: ASLA - National and MN, LILA International Garden of the Year
