What sets our planning process apart is understanding the impact and challenges of implementing a plan from the perspective of community activists, developers, and public institutions.
Our experience in working for and alongside private development, government, and communities at large allows us to understand the implementation of a planning project, beyond ideas on paper. Both architecture and urban planning are well understood as essential to a planning project but are often found in different areas of a firm, or in separate firms altogether. We have broad first-hand experience in every aspect of planning, including boots-on-the-ground experience with community engagement.
Members of our team have been key drivers of public policy. Founding partner Irby Hightower co-chaired the River Oversight Committee along with Mayor Emeritus Lila Cockrell, and together they led development of the San Antonio River Walk Museum Reach and Mission Reach expansion projects, investing over $384.1M in federal, river authority, county, city, and private foundation funds. Today, the River Walk is a linear park of more than 15 miles of landscaped riverbanks, flood and drought managed river, and hike and bike paths, providing a key driver of local tourism, magnet for development, and a cherished asset of city life.
Partner Jim Bailey, AIA embraced urban planning by jump-starting the non-profit ActivateSA.org, a local coalition for complete streets. Jim’s engagement with City policy also includes developing the San Antonio Housing Policy Framework, informed by experiences working with inner city communities on both new construction and retrofits of existing, aging city properties. Aligned with our work in multifamily housing, we believe every community needs and deserves excellent, affordable places to live.
Our planning team integrates strong credentials in architecture and planning, informed by our comprehensive depth of experience in retail placemaking and public policy regarding urban design. Placemaking offers insight into how people actively engage with the public realm; and public policy surrounding urban design directly supports implementation of urban and neighborhood placemaking. When you work as we do, combining architecture, planning, policy, and placemaking, master planning is naturally thorough, insightful, and successful.
Our interest in city-building in a broad sense compels us to bring progressive urban design ideas to individual projects.
1512 South Flores St.
San Antonio, TX 78204
210.227.2612
