Let there be plants! / Conrad Square gets a refresh

Intended as a short-term beautification and improvement to Joseph Conrad Square in San Francisco’s North Beach/Fisherman’s Wharf neighborhood, Carducci Associates’ landscape plan preserves existing trees and introduces a low growing and varied plant palette designed to draw and welcome visitors in all seasons.

The low growing planting and improved landscape lighting – two basic principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) – were incorporated in response to the community’s ongoing concerns regarding criminal activity in the space. These elements will help to increase visibility and surveillance, thus making it a safer place to occupy throughout the day, and night.

On January 17^th, the first phase of Conrad Square was completed in collaboration with the Fisherman’s Wharf Community Benefit District and the SF Rec & Parks. (The SF Rec & Parks Dept. obtained the plant materials, compost, and the mulch; it used 20 gardeners to install the planting in one day.) The first phase included: clearing previous planting that might have encouraged unwanted activity. In turn, this allowed the new succulent and drought-tolerant garden to take root on-site. Check out the new plants if you’re in the area!

More information about our project is available here.

Welcome! / K.C. Farrell Joins the Carducci Team

The newest member of our staff, Associate K.C. Farrell has a team-oriented approach to design, along with ten years of experience. “The best idea wins,” he says, of collaborating. “I believe that good design is achieved without ego and that ideas can come from anywhere and anyone at any time.” At all times, K.C. brings this attitude to his work. 

So far, K.C. has brought a fresh perspective to old projects, leadership to new ones, improvements to our office standards, and a bounty of herbs from his garden. “Every day that I come to work, I strive to design something with meaning. My goal is to create spaces that allow users to have unique experiences and create memories that will outlast the built environment.” 

His previous experience includes high-end residential, retail, campus, and public works, and he studied landscape architecture at UC Berkeley and UC Davis. In 2008, K.C. began volunteering at the National AIDS Memorial Grove (NAMG) monthly workdays to maintain and improve the eight-acre site. Soon after, he became a workday Team Leader and Site Advisor on the Site Committee, where he helped design and develop site improvement plans. 

In the years that followed, K.C. has continued as a Site Advisor to help lead many projects, including a historic waterfall restoration (2011), South and North Slope repaving (2016-2017), and SF Gay Men’s Chorus Circle (2018). Of his decade as a NAMG volunteer, he says: “serving as a Workday Volunteer is still some of the most enjoyable work that I do. Digging my hands into the soil and working with a team in an effort to maintain a landscape that is sacred to so many people is truly a rewarding experience.” 

Advancements at Carducci Associates / Joel Franceschi Promoted to Design Coordinator

We are happy to announce the promotion of Associate Joel Franceschi to Design Coordinator! After three years of contributing to and managing many projects at Carducci, we recognize Joel for his proficiency in skills essential to leadership in landscape architecture practice today, from representation and professional communication with colleagues, consultants, and clients, to construction methods and code.

One of the best talents Joel brings to the office is his vast knowledge of soils and plants, as species, aesthetic elements, and life sensitive to highly specific environmental conditions. His love of native plants, especially those supporting pollinators, is evident throughout all of his school and residential projects. Alpine meadows and the Santa Cruz Mountains have long provided Joel with a rich inspiration, before studying landscape architecture at UC Davis and working at a residential landscape architecture firm in Santa Cruz.

When he isn’t coordinating, Joel can be found caring for and experimenting with his rapidly expanding collection of unusual orchids and other friends that are beginning to engulf his desk.

In the News: Don Biddle Community Park & Fallon Sports Park / Landscape Architecture Magazine's April 2019 Issue

We’re delighted to have our work on the aesthetics and function of sports parks featured in the April issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine.

“Clash of the Terrains,” written by contributing editor Timothy Schuler, details an ongoing project of Carducci Associates’ to balance the performative and technical standards of athletic fields with ecologically sensitive and place-making planting design. The high contrast between a sense of order and a sense of wildness has been a common thread in our park projects in Dublin, California—notably Fallon Sports Park and the forthcoming Don Biddle Park.

In celebration of World Landscape Architecture month, the April issue of LAM is free in digital format to all. The issue is available here; or click here to jump straight to the article.