A nationally known landscape architectural firm has opened an office in Denver for Homecoming for the Director of the New Location.
The process of connecting Denver to the offices that Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates has in Cambridge, Mass. and Brooklyn, NY occurred systematically during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Scott Strib, an associate principal and director in Denver. Said.
“I originally came here in 2018 to be closer to my family. Michael was supporting me in working remotely,” said Strib, who grew up in Littleton. “I had set up a small office.”
And other workers were facing a “pandemic storm” in the area, he said.
“Michael thought we should all work together, and that’s how we’re opening an office,” Streib said.
Ten people work in the new office in the Sunnyside neighborhood of northwest Denver. The new location was added to the firm’s website in late April.
“This was related to the pandemic in our willingness to afford different lifestyles for our employees, with the added bonus of having a presence here and expanding our project,” said Streib.
Strib said the firm, MVVA, is known for its large-scale public works projects. Many projects take years to complete.
The firm’s work includes the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park, which stretches along the waterfront north and south of the bridge. Another project is the 27-acre Maggie Daly Park in downtown Chicago that is part of the city’s network of lakeside landscapes. Other works include the Obama Presidential Center, the George W. Bush Presidential Center and Gathering Place in Tulsa, Okla., a 66-acre park along the Arkansas River.
Streib said the MVVA also works on residential design and college campuses.
Strib said, “A lot of our work revolves around these public places, no matter who you are or where you come from, or how much money you make, you can come and enjoy it. ” “We have a lot of good public spaces in Denver, but we can do even better.”
Much of the firm’s work also includes private philanthropy to help finance projects in public spaces.
Streibe attended Columbine High School. He was a freshman and was in school when 13 people were killed in 1999 shootings. He graduated from Colorado State University in 2007 and spent 13 years in Brooklyn.
“We’re going to start looking at local projects, especially in the Mountain West region,” Strib said. “The ultimate dream is to do a large-scale public project in Denver someday.”
