LANDSCAPE architecture studio
Principal, Director of Practice - Landscape Architecture
Matthew Porteous, PLA, ASLA
Matt pursues integrated and creative design solutions that focus on activating civic infrastructure and pedestrian-centered streetscapes to make inviting civic spaces, mixed-use communities and commercial developments. He excels at balancing the diverse needs of private development, cities, agencies with economic demands and public processes. Matt’s goal is to create experiences that leverage each site’s unique character and foster social connections.
His expertise lies in master planning, urban design, and landscape architecture. For 30 years, he has partnered with dozens of communities, cities, and architectural and engineering firms to design a diverse range of urban projects including civic and campus public spaces, mixed-use/residential, commercial and transit.
Heather Lam
Having grown up in dense cities adjacent to the waters, Heather is drawn to the natural connection between people and the environment, and how landscape architecture fosters that relationship. She believes that the urban experience can be inspired by systematically planned, solution-driven and artfully designed landscapes. The integration of aesthetics and functionality makes landscape both an efficient space and an inhabitable work of art.
Throughout the course of her graduate studies at the University of Washington, she had worked with architects and urban designers on research projects, competition entries and installation proposals. She also has had the opportunity to work with horticulturalists, museum specialists and artists as an aspiring landscape designer in Washington D.C. and Hong Kong. She enjoys opportunities to collaborate with practitioners across a wide-range of disciplines, and continues to be an adaptable and steadfast part of the project team.
Senior Associate
Mike Koski-Harja, PLA
Mike enjoys collaboration and is fascinated with the craft of the design process. In particular, he has a keen interest in the documentation and construction phases of projects. He believes in being thoughtful in how we do our work, always looking beyond our own tasks to the larger goals and opportunities within each project. As a result, he has enjoyed managing a full range of small to large multi-disciplinary projects in the public and private sectors, working on campuses, commercial developments, and regional transportation systems.
Mike received Bachelor of Environmental Studies and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees from the University of Manitoba before moving to Seattle. When he can get away, you’ll find him travelling or fly fishing, collecting new experiences to fuel the creative process.
Associate
Rachel Miller, PLA, ASLA
Born and raised in Seattle, Rachel earned her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Degree from the University of Washington. Her childhood love of Pacific Northwest forests and beaches developed into a passion for crafting urban landscapes which draw inspiration from the beauty and adaptability of the environment around us.
Having recently completed Lakefront Blocks, she is now working on mixed-use and open space projects at several regional retail centers, including University Village, with the goal of turning parking lots into pedestrian paradises. Through an approach that combines inspired collaboration with a strong understanding of the complexities of building in the urban environment, Rachel contributes to the creation of people places that are functional, flexible, and unique.
Associate
Reese Cowan Stewart, PLA,ASLA
Reese sees every project as an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between people and the land they inhabit. Cultural landscapes are defined by what they mean to the people who call them home as much as by soils, ecology, topography, views, and structures. The ability to tune into the essence of a place in a manner that is reflective, respectful, and creative is at the core of her professional passion.
Reese is an advocate for quality design in the built environment, with a diverse portfolio that includes a wide variety of public and institutional projects such as parks, schools, recreational facilities, streetscapes, public buildings, trails, and children’s play areas. Each was designed to express the client’s energy and desire for a project while listening to the innate qualities of the landscape—and then carefully crafted to balance both.
Broadening her knowledge and igniting a deep passion for global cultures and antiquity, Reese spent the first few years of University in the Faulty of Arts, Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba. Through a diverse lens of curiosity of the natural world, science and cultures, Reese transferred into the Faculty of Architecture where she earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Manitoba.