Gates + Associates deSign WitH durability
Environmental awareness is a vital for Gates & Associates, a landscape architecture, land planning and urban design firm based in San Ramon, Calif., that has maintained a 33 year history of success in designing natural environments.
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international
| landscape design
Gates + associates
Sustaining environmental design by designing sustainable environments
by Joel Cornell ABOVE: The Fountains, Roseville, Calif. The Fountains is an upscale, lifestyle shopping destination with a series of social spaces featuring art and interactive elements along the storefronts and central median. The central fountain plaza focuses on a 25’ bronze sculpture. A Mediterranean retreat character is reflected in the plant palette, site elements, and detailing. Photo by the Bollinger Group. OPPOSITE PAGE: Bay Meadows Linear Park, San mateo, Calif. The Linear Park is the centerpiece of this mixed-use transit village, built on the site of a former racetrack. This award winning project was listed as one of America’s best new developments in the Sierra Club’s November, 2005 publication, ‘Building Better’. Photo by David Gates & Associates
2 Architecture Leaders Today
Environmental awareness is a vital aspect to any architectural design firm. These ideas are even more critical when that design firm specializes in designing natural environments. Gates + Associates, based in San Ramon, Calif., is a landscape architecture, land planning and urban design firm that has maintained a 34 year history of success in design and planning. Upon graduating from Harvard University in 1970 with two master’s degrees, one in urban design and one in landscape architecture, one of the co-founders of Gates + Associates, David Gates, worked in the public sector in Boston as a landscape architect for a period of three years. He relocated to San Francisco, where he taught courses in landscape architectural design at the University of California, Berkeley until 1980. During his tenure there, in 1977, Gates founded Gates + Associates with his wife Linda Gates. “Most of what we do is try to express the patterns that nature has already laid out in such a way that the architectural plans are integrated into nature, not on top of it,” Gates said. “This has been our method of design since our inception, but only in
the past decades has it come to the public’s attention as ‘sustainability’. Whether we’re working with a range of 2,000 acres in Vietnam, a small residential community in Nigeria, or someone’s backyard here in Calif., our awareness of the environmental and cultural settings, and of all the construction and commitment issues involved have allowed us to grow domestically and internationally, even through these difficult economic times.” The bulk of Gates + Associates’ work is done in landscape design, but that is all reinforced by their skills and experience in land planning and urban design. Backed by a staff of 24 landscape architects and designers, irrigation designers, CAD drafters and a graphic design department, Gates + Associates has the scope and attention to detail that lets them handle projects of any size or scale like a small boutique firm. “For the most part,” said Gates, “I try and keep involved in each project that the firm handles. We collaborate frequently with civil and structural engineers, architects, cities and land developers. Our firm
landscape design
| international
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international
4 Architecture Leaders Today
| landscape design
landscape design
will assign a specialized team of 5-10 personnel to handle a project, depending on its size and scope, and I’ll spend my time working with the people in those groups helping to aim the direction of the project, develop the character and aesthetic that the client wants; from the general path the project is taking, down to the things like the design of the fountains or monoliths, placement of buildings or choice of materials to be used.”
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Over the last four years, Gates + Associates has been working with a client in China to design a large development around an existing reservoir. The project began with Gates + Associates managing the land planning aspects of the development. However, since they have been working with the client, they have also taken to designing bridges and roads, laying out home spaces, managing the density of the subdivisions, planning the nearby golf course and converting nearby rice fields into peninsulas as part of the adjacent park. Additionally, Gates + Associates is working in Nigeria to design a 1,000 home community development near the capital city of Abuja. They are also working in Saikai Bashi, Japan on the landscape design for several upscale hotels on the Saikai Bashi straits. “Today’s idea of sustainability has always been a focus for us,” Gates said. “Not only in the sense of preserving soil structure, clean water and efficient design, but we are always extra careful because we’re not just designing for the environment; we’re designing the environment itself.” ALT OPPOSITE PAGE: Bay Street Memorialization, Emeryville, Calif. In the midst of a bustling retail district and mixeduse project, this park honors the history and culture of the Ohlone Indians who once lived on the site. Gates + Associates worked with local artists to interpret natural history and geology of the area, as well as Ohlone life and culture. Photo by David Gates & Associates. LEFT: Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, Oakland, Calif. This former Navy deep-water port was transformed into a 38-acre waterfront park, emphasizing learning about local history, the natural environment, maritime activities, and stewardship of the environment. A regional destination for annual events and festivities, the park includes historic elements, reconstructed shorelines and native vegetation, a grand lawn and picnic area, vista points for maritime and port activities, beach, and over 1.5 miles of trails. Photo by David Gates & Associates.
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