In recent years, urban and suburban development have impaired our quality of life. Imprecise zoning ordinances, uncoordinated planning agencies and the lack of a commitment to building in the public realm are at the heart of this problem. This urban illness is manifest in traffic congestion, increased pollution and a loss of precious natural resources, including clean air, clean water, native flora and fauna and a disappearing sense of community. We believe that a pedestrian-oriented and Neighborhood-based Urbanism fully integrated with offices, stores, parks and civic buildings and linked with public transit systems is needed to make towns and cities whole once again.

Community is the foundation of our work in Urbanism and our expertise results from extensive involvement in the design of buildings at many different scales, from single-family residences, to housing, to civic and commercial facilities. In addition, the physical design of landscape and streetscape affords our firm a unique perspective on integrating these elements into the totality of our projects. Through experience in realizing the broadest range of buildings and street improvements, we have developed a deep understanding in regional placemaking.

Along with our extensive building track record, we serve the larger community through our involvement in public sector dialogues, including the creation of the Ahwahnee Principles—new Community Planning guidelines formulated for the Local Government Commission of the State of California. Most recently, the firm's partners co-wrote the Canons of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism, a supplement to the Charter of the New Urbanism. The firm’s principals are two of the six cofounders of the Congress for the New Urbanism, a national organization aimed at the integration of social, economic, aesthetic, ecological and political aspects of town-making at all scales.

Sustainability must be at the heart of forward-looking Urbanism and Architecture, and we bring that sensibility to all our design work. We believe that Sustainability is about using resources efficiently. Sustainable Design principles are about human society achieving a long-term perspective that allows us to understand that our continuing ability to live well on this planet requires a process of change in the use of resources, the direction of investment and the orientation of technological development.

In our design work, we typically link sustainable Urbanism to a community’s identity, which should include its connections to cultural heritage, its local economy and its natural systems and resources. Learning from the past to create the future strengthens these connections and establishes new ones that future generations can learn from and carry forward. We seek to restore a sense of place with deep connections to the geology, biology, climate and culture of each region of our country.