Ground Studio
Ground Studio is a California-based landscape architecture firm designing high-end residential gardens and estates across California, serving affluent property owners through partnerships with elite architecture firms like Feldman Architecture and Swatt | Miers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1995
- HeadquartersMonterey, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Ground Studio does
Ground Studio is a privately held landscape architecture firm headquartered in Monterey, California, with additional offices in Napa and Santa Barbara. The firm designs contextual California landscapes spanning compact urban gardens to expansive rural estates, targeting affluent residential property owners and select commercial projects (notably vineyards such as Red Car Winery). Its core service is end-to-end landscape architecture: site analysis, concept design, planting design, construction documentation, and project oversight. The firm's distinguishing technology is methodological rather than software-based—an ecological design philosophy emphasizing California native plants and Mediterranean climate-appropriate plantings, contextual materiality that integrates architecture and landscape, and a regenerative design ethos. Two published monographs (Landprints, 2013; Bernard Trainor / Ground Studio Landscapes, 2019, both Princeton Architectural Press) document the portfolio.
The firm operates as a professional services practice on a project-by-project commission basis for high-end residential clients, with no public pricing or standard tiers. Go-to-market is sales-led and driven by architectural referrals, publication coverage, and award recognition rather than active marketing. Through the input's 25+ year window, the firm has built long-standing collaborative partnerships with leading California architecture firms including Feldman Architecture, Swatt | Miers Architects, Bohlin Cywinsky Jackson, and Ken Linsteadt Architects, which function as a recurring co-development pipeline. Revenue derives from design fees, project management, and construction documentation on private commissions, with named clients and architectural partners spanning the Bay Area, Big Sur, Carmel Valley, Sonoma wine country, and Silicon Valley. No revenue, funding, or M&A activity is disclosed.
Ground Studio firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ground Studio
- Legal name
- Ground Studio Landscape Architecture
- Website
- https://groundstudio.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1995
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Ground Studio is a California-based landscape architecture firm designing high-end residential gardens and estates across California, serving affluent property owners through partnerships with elite architecture firms like Feldman Architecture and Swatt | Miers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ground Studio industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Landscape Architecture Services
- NAICS
- Landscape Architectural Services (541320), Landscape Architectural Services (54132)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC)
Keywords
Where Ground Studio is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Monterey
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Ground Studio business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Landscape Architecture Design Services: Professional landscape architecture services for residential projects ranging from compact urban gardens to expansive rural estates. Revenue generated through design fees, project management, and construction documentation services.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Ground Studio product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ground Studio is a landscape architecture firm that designs contextual California landscapes for high-end residential and select commercial properties. Services span site analysis, concept design, planting design, construction documentation, and project oversight, executed at scales ranging from compact urban gardens to expansive rural estates. The firm specializes in California native and Mediterranean-climate-appropriate plantings, with an ecological design philosophy emphasizing land regeneration and integration of architecture with landscape.
Product overview
Ground Studio is a landscape architecture firm providing professional landscape design services. The company does not offer software products, platforms, or technology-based offerings. Their services include residential and commercial landscape architecture, planting design, and project management for gardens ranging from compact urban sites to expansive rural properties. They have published two monographs documenting their work: "Bernard Trainor / Ground Studio Landscapes" (2019) and "Landprints" (2013).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Landscape Architecture Design Services Full-service landscape architecture for residential and select commercial properties, spanning site analysis, concept design, planting design, construction documentation, and project oversight from conception to completion. Designs range from compact urban gardens to expansive rural estates, with deep specialization in California native and Mediterranean-climate-appropriate plants. Targeted at affluent private estate owners and select commercial clients in California.
- Architectural Partnership / Co-Design Services Collaborative landscape architecture services for architectural firms, integrating landscape design with modernist and contemporary residential architecture from project inception through construction. Long-standing partnerships with Feldman Architecture, Swatt Miers Architects, Bohlin Cywinsky Jackson, and others.
- Bernard Trainor / Ground Studio Landscapes Monograph Published monograph documenting award-winning Ground Studio projects with full-color plans and photography, sold via Princeton Architectural Press and major book retailers.
- Landprints Monograph Published monograph featuring ten of the firm's most ambitious and inspiring landscapes with photography and critical analysis, sold via Princeton Architectural Press.
Companies that use Ground Studio
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Ground Studio technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Ground Studio partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.
- Feldman ArchitecturecoreLong-standing collaborative partnership with San Francisco-based Feldman Architecture on numerous residential projects. Ground Studio provides landscape design while Feldman provides architectural services, with seamless integration between architecture and landscape. Projects include Butterfly House, Salamander House, Ranch O I H, Palo Alto residence, and Santa Cruz beach house.
- Swatt | Miers ArchitectscoreOngoing partnership with award-winning Silicon Valley architecture firm on residential projects. Ground Studio provides landscape architecture for their modernist residential designs. Projects include Gentry Home in Atherton and Retrospect project in Sonoma County.
- Fergus Garber Young ArchitectssecondaryArchitectural collaboration on Orchard Hill project in Woodside, California, where the firms worked together on integrating landscape with architecture.
- Bohlin Cywinsky JacksoncoreCollaborated with renowned architecture firm on Halls Ridge project in Carmel Valley's Santa Lucia Preserve. The project received several architectural design awards.
- Craig Steily ArchitecturesecondaryPartnership with Oakland-based architect on Gypsy project - a modern hillside garden in the Berkeley hills.
- Mary Ann Schicketanz (Schicketanz)coreCollaboration with architect Mary Ann Schicketanz on acclaimed Big Sur hillside project. The project was featured in Gardens Illustrated and exemplifies the integration of architecture and landscape.
- Ken Linsteadt ArchitectssecondaryArchitectural partnership on Rancho San Carlos project in Santa Lucia Preserve, working with Texas family on minimalist-modern farmhouse design.
- San Francisco Botanical GardenminorGround Studio designed the Australia Garden collection at San Francisco Botanical Garden - a major overhaul of an Australian plant collection originally dating to the 1939 World's Fair.
- Native Sons Nursery / David FrossminorDavid Fross of Native Sons nursery provided advice on California native plants, which informed the firm's planting palette and approach to native plant usage.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Ground Studio competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lutsko Associates: San Francisco landscape architecture firm with strong custom residential and estate portfolio in California. Comparable mid-sized practice with similar Mediterranean/native planting philosophy and direct overlap with architects on premium projects.
- Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture: San Francisco-based landscape architecture firm with comparable high-end residential practice, recognized for minimalist, ecologically sensitive design in California. Direct overlap with Ground Studio in clientele, aesthetic philosophy, and California coastal/mountain geography.
- Terremoto: Los Angeles-based landscape architecture studio with comparable scale and an ecologically-driven, site-specific aesthetic for high-end residential and select commercial projects. Direct peer in California luxury landscape design with similar founder-led creative culture.
- Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects: Award-winning landscape architecture firm with comparable high-end residential estate work and strong publication profile. Direct peer in design quality, project scale, and editorial recognition, though operating across the East Coast and Mountain West in addition to California.
- GLS Landscape Architecture: California-focused landscape architecture firm serving premium residential and select commercial clients, comparable in scale and project type to Ground Studio, with similar California-native and Mediterranean planting expertise.
- Reed Hilderbrand: Cambridge, MA-based landscape architecture firm comparable in stature and design sensibility, with significant high-end residential estate work and deep integration with leading architects. Similar size, editorial profile, and project-based fee structure.
- Andrea Paul Backhausen Landscape Architecture: California-based landscape architecture firm focused on private estates and high-end residential commissions, sharing Ground Studio's project scale, client demographic, and emphasis on contextual planting design.
Broad incumbents
- OLIN: Philadelphia-based landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with broader practice (urban, institutional, commercial) but overlapping high-end residential and estate work. Larger and more diversified than Ground Studio but a recognized leader in ecological landscape design.
- SWA Group: Large established landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with California presence and significant high-end residential and master-planned community work. Operates at greater scale and broader scope, but competes for the same architect and developer relationships.
- James Corner Field Operations: New York-based landscape architecture and urban design firm with comparable editorial visibility and design-led culture. While predominantly focused on large-scale public and urban projects, it shares Ground Studio's reputation-driven positioning and design philosophy.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Ground Studio social profiles
Digital presenceGround Studio financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ground Studio leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Ground Studio funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ground Studio M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ground Studio
What does Ground Studio do?
Ground Studio is a landscape architecture firm that designs contextual California landscapes for high-end residential and select commercial properties. Services span site analysis, concept design, planting design, construction documentation, and project oversight, executed at scales ranging from compact urban gardens to expansive rural estates. The firm specializes in California native and Mediterranean-climate-appropriate plantings, with an ecological design philosophy emphasizing land regeneration and integration of architecture with landscape.
Is Ground Studio a public or private company?
Ground Studio is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Ground Studio founded?
Ground Studio was founded in 1995. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Ground Studio based?
Ground Studio is headquartered in Monterey, United States, in the North America region.
How does Ground Studio make money?
One revenue line is on record: landscape Architecture Design Services.
Who are Ground Studio's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lutsko Associates, Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture, Terremoto, Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, GLS Landscape Architecture, Reed Hilderbrand and Andrea Paul Backhausen Landscape Architecture. Broad incumbents are OLIN, SWA Group and James Corner Field Operations.
Does Ground Studio have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ground Studio.
What industry is Ground Studio in?
Ground Studio's product category is Landscape Architecture Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAC, Landscape Architecture & Site Design. Its NAICS code is 541320.