What Ryan Associates does

Ryan Associates is a privately held landscape architecture and planning firm founded in 1998 by Tom Ryan and headquartered at 144 Moody Street, Building 4, in Waltham, Massachusetts. The firm operates with an 8-person team led by three principals — Tom Ryan (Senior Principal/Owner), Laura Knosp, and Alan Aukeman — and serves a diverse client base including universities, real estate developers, healthcare institutions, municipalities, and private clients across the United States and select international markets. Its service portfolio spans landscape architecture, strategic planning, custom residential design, parks and gardens, community planning, roof gardens, institutional design, commercial and mixed-use projects, and urban design.

The firm has built a portfolio of high-visibility institutional and hospitality projects, including work with Mass General Brigham, the Smith College Neilson Library, the MIT Brain & Cognitive Sciences Building, UMass Memorial Medical Center, the Inn at Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, UMass Amherst Mt. Ida Campus, Faneuil Hall, The High Line in New York City, the Mesa Arts Center, and MGM ARIA at CityCenter. Notable collaborations include partnerships with OJB (Mass General Brigham), James Corner Field Operations (High Line), Martha Schwartz Partners (Mesa Arts Center), Stoss Landscape Urbanism (CityDeck), and W. Gary Smith (The Ramble). The firm has earned repeated recognition through ASLA, BSA, NALP, BRAGB PRISM, NAHB, and ULI awards spanning 2006 through 2025.

Revenue is generated through professional services fees tied to planning, design, and construction-oversight engagements on individual client projects, with no disclosed software products, proprietary technology platforms, or AI capabilities. Geographic reach has expanded beyond its New England base into the Southeast, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Western United States, alongside selected international engagements in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The firm maintains a principal-led, relationship-driven consulting model rather than a product or platform business.

Name

Ryan Associates

Legal name

Ryan Associates

Website

https://ryan-assoc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ryan Associates is a privately held landscape architecture and planning firm founded in 1998, serving universities, healthcare institutions, real estate developers, municipalities, and private clients across the United States and select Middle Eastern markets with an 8-person team based in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Landscape Architecture Services

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable/Green Building & LEED Consulting (BPAHAKAG)

Keywords

• Landscape architecture
• Site planning
• Construction documentation
• Urban design
• Garden design

Headquarters

HQ city

Waltham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Landscape Architecture Services: Full range of Landscape Architecture and Strategic Planning services for institutional, residential, commercial, and civic projects. Revenue generated through professional design fees for planning, design, and construction oversight services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Ryan Associates is a landscape architecture and planning firm providing full-service design from site analysis and conceptual design through construction documentation and construction administration. It serves universities, healthcare systems, real estate developers, commercial clients, municipalities, and individual homeowners across institutional, residential, commercial, and civic project types, with particular expertise in complex sites, roof gardens, and constructible documentation.

Product overview

Ryan Associates is a landscape architecture and planning firm that offers a comprehensive range of professional design services. The firm operates as a single unified service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Their portfolio spans ten distinct service categories: Custom Residential Design (high-end residential landscapes), Parks + Gardens (public spaces and children's gardens), Community Planning (mixed-use developments and residential communities), Roof Gardens (rooftop amenity spaces), Institutional (campus and healthcare landscapes), Commercial + Mixed Use (commercial developments), Collaborations (partnered projects with other design firms), and Urban Design (urban plazas and streetscapes). These services are delivered through their full-service design process from site analysis through construction administration, with particular expertise in complex sites and challenging terrain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landscape Architecture Services Full-service landscape architecture covering site analysis, conceptual design, construction documentation, and construction administration for projects of various scales and types, delivered to institutional, residential, commercial, and civic clients.
• Strategic Planning Services Comprehensive planning services for complex landscape design challenges, including feasibility assessments, phasing strategies, and cost estimates, for institutional, civic, and large-scale site projects.
• Custom Residential Design High-end residential landscape design services including site design, garden creation, pool areas, outdoor kitchens, and custom residential projects such as Brookline Residence, Hillside Residence, Longview Residence, and the Jamestown Net-Zero renovation.
• Parks + Gardens Public and private park design, children's gardens, and horticultural spaces including The Ramble at Tower Hill, Grant's Block, and Jalmudah Central Park.
• Community Planning Mixed-use community development planning including residential communities, townhouse developments, and neighborhood planning projects like Cirrus Apartments, Wolcott Woods, and Sawyer's Reach.
• Roof Gardens Design of rooftop amenity spaces and green roofs including The Harper in Philadelphia and Neilson Library at Smith College.
• Institutional Campus and institutional landscape design for universities, healthcare facilities, and religious institutions including MIT Brain & Cognitive Sciences Building, UMass Memorial Healing Garden, and Mass General Brigham campus.
• Commercial + Mixed Use Commercial and mixed-use development landscape design including hotels, event venues, and adaptive reuse projects such as Chesapeake Bay Beach Club and Amerbelle Mill.
• Collaborations Partnered design collaborations with other landscape architects and architecture firms on large-scale projects including The High Line (NYC), Mesa Arts Center, and Sowwah Island Central Park (Abu Dhabi).
• Urban Design Urban plaza and streetscape design including historic preservation projects like Faneuil Hall in Boston and Washington Square in Haverhill.

Named customers14 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered notable, flagship and core.

• Ground, Inc.notableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on an invited competition for Sowwah Island Central Park in Abu Dhabi's financial district. Ryan Associates prepared project details, developed site elements, feasibility assessments, phasing and cost estimate review, and selected plant materials.
• OJBnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on the design, documentation, and implementation of Mass General Brigham corporate campus in Somerville, MA. Project transformed industrial land into a vibrant urban campus with POPS, plazas, event lawn, and stormwater garden.
• James Corner Field OperationsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTom Ryan joined the Field Operations team during design of first phase of NYC's High Line, consulting on first and second phases. Assisted in development of project details, document sets, and advised during construction.
• Martha Schwartz PartnersnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsulted with Martha Schwartz Partners and Boora Architects on master plan and construction administration for Mesa Arts Center, AZ. Award-winning project combining diverse materials.
• Stoss Landscape UrbanismnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerTom Ryan consulted with STOSS team to refine details and documents of hardscape improvements for CityDeck in Green Bay, WI to enhance constructability and durability.
• W. Gary SmithcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on The Ramble, a 1.5-acre children's garden at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, and The Brush Pile nature play feature. W. Gary Smith served as artist and fellow landscape architect.
• CBT ArchitectsnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on Jalumudah Central Park, a 168-acre public landscape for Jubail, Saudi Arabia, the largest industrial city in the world.
• CSS ArchitectsnotableImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWorked in collaboration with CSS Architects and City of Boston on Faneuil Hall plaza renovation addressing trip hazards and accessibility challenges.
• MGM ARIA at CityCenternotableImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTom Ryan was asked to review drawings for the Aria Pool deck and streetscape at CityCenter Las Vegas during re-design, providing technical review and suggesting alternate construction methods.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ground, Inc. Landscape architecture practice working across urban design, public realm, and large-scale international projects. Collaborated with Ryan Associates on the Sowwah Island Central Park invited competition in Abu Dhabi, and is a comparable firm in project type and international ambition.
• Reed Hilderbrand: Cambridge, MA-based landscape architecture firm with a comparable portfolio of cultural, institutional, and academic projects. The two firms share New England roots, similar client types (universities, cultural institutions, residential), and overlapping competitive positioning.
• James Corner Field Operations: Internationally recognized landscape architecture and urban design firm behind the High Line, Freshkills Park, and many of the world's most prominent public realm projects. Ryan Associates has been engaged by Field Operations as a detailing/documentation consultant on the High Line, making it both a direct competitor in landscape architecture and a documented collaborator.
• OLIN: Philadelphia- and LA-based landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm known for high-profile cultural and institutional projects. Comparable to Ryan Associates in project scale, client prestige (museums, campuses, public parks), and award profile.
• Hargreaves Associates: San Francisco-based landscape architecture firm with a major portfolio of urban parks, campuses, and waterfronts. Tom Ryan was previously a Principal at Hargreaves, making it both a former-employer peer and a comparable competing firm in the same scale band.
• Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates: Brooklyn-based landscape architecture firm renowned for Brooklyn Bridge Park and other large urban park projects. Comparable to Ryan Associates in pursuing high-profile public realm and institutional commissions with a similar boutique-but-premium positioning.
• Martha Schwartz Partners: New York- and London-based landscape architecture and urban design practice known for art-driven public spaces. Ryan Associates has consulted on Martha Schwartz Partners' Mesa Arts Center project, and the two firms intersect in the same cultural and institutional project universe.
• Stoss Landscape Urbanism: Boston-based landscape architecture and urban design firm with strong academic and civic credentials. Ryan Associates has been a detailing consultant on Stoss projects (e.g., CityDeck in Green Bay), and both firms compete for similar urban design and waterfront commissions in New England.

Broad incumbents

• Sasaki Associates: Multidisciplinary planning, design, and landscape architecture firm with significant institutional and higher-education campus work. Tom Ryan previously worked at Sasaki, and the firm competes with Ryan Associates for the same university and institutional clients in New England and beyond.
• SWA Group: Large, established landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with a global portfolio across parks, campuses, and waterfronts. Tom Ryan is a former employee, making SWA a former-employer peer and one of the largest competing firms in the same professional services category.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Ryan Associates