Ground Studio

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.

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

Product category

Landscape Architecture Services

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (541320), Landscape Architectural Services (54132)

akta.pro primary industry

Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC)

Keywords

• Landscape architecture services
• Residential landscape design
• Planting design
• Site planning
• Garden design

Headquarters

HQ city

Monterey

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. 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

Core 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.

Named customers7 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.

• Feldman ArchitecturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-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 ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing 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 ArchitectssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitectural collaboration on Orchard Hill project in Woodside, California, where the firms worked together on integrating landscape with architecture.
• Bohlin Cywinsky JacksoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with renowned architecture firm on Halls Ridge project in Carmel Valley's Santa Lucia Preserve. The project received several architectural design awards.
• Craig Steily ArchitecturesecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Oakland-based architect on Gypsy project - a modern hillside garden in the Berkeley hills.
• Mary Ann Schicketanz (Schicketanz)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration 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 ArchitectssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitectural partnership on Rancho San Carlos project in Santa Lucia Preserve, working with Texas family on minimalist-modern farmhouse design.
• San Francisco Botanical GardenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGround 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 FrossminorOthersDavid 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

Direct 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

• Xx.com/groundstudioarc
• Facebookfacebook.com/100079821338518
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/groundstudio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ground Studio