What livingLAB does

livingLAB is a Detroit-based landscape architecture and urban planning studio that designs urban environments, parks, streetscapes, and public spaces through a community co-creation methodology. The firm operates three integrated practice pillars — Landscape Architecture & Urban Design, Planning & Master Planning, and Community Engagement & Co-Creation — delivered alongside architects, civil engineers, municipal leaders, developers, and community members across the full project lifecycle from programming and concept through construction administration. Its design approach is organized around a stated Triple Bottom Line framework integrating social equity, economic well-being, and environmental protection (stormwater mitigation, light-pollution reduction, heat-island mitigation, habitat creation).

The firm's revenue model is custom-scoped professional services fees, with engagements typically structured as multi-year contracts negotiated per project and frequently delivered as a subconsultant to larger prime consulting firms (WSP, OHM Advisors, Wade Trim). livingLAB's primary client segment is municipal government, anchored by the City of Detroit (General Services Department and ACE) with growing exposure to Oakland County Parks and corporate anchor tenant DTE Energy; secondary clients include architecture, engineering, and development prime consultants. Marketing is conducted almost entirely through the firm's website, an awards portfolio of 15+ industry recognitions spanning Michigan ASLA, CNU, MRPA, AIA Detroit, ACEC, MAP, and the Chicago Athenaeum, and women-owned / Detroit-based business certifications (elevo, 3BL) relevant to ESG- and supplier-diversity-conscious public procurement.

The firm is privately held with no disclosed funding, parent company, or institutional investors. It was founded circa 2012 and is led by two principals — Design Principal & Landscape Architect Courtney Piotrowski (Michigan Licensed Landscape Architect, NCI Certified Engagement Specialist) and Lead Planner & Engagement Consultant Leah Groya (AICP, 23 years of parks and non-motorized transportation planning). All operations are based at a single Detroit headquarters (1420 Washington Blvd Ste 301) with project work concentrated in Michigan. The portfolio includes Beacon Park (2018), the Bagley Shared Street (2020, Detroit's first), Riverside Park Plaza & Promenade (2023), Detroit Arts Alleys (2025, 9 alleys), and planned 2026 completions at Oak Park Woods at Shepherd Park ($7.5M) and the 250-acre Eliza Howell Park Master Plan.

Name

livingLAB

Legal name

livingLAB

Website

https://livinglabdetroit.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

livingLAB is a Detroit-based landscape architecture and planning studio that designs urban environments, parks, streetscapes, and public spaces through community co-creation, primarily serving the City of Detroit, Oakland County Parks, and corporate anchor clients in Michigan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Detroit

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional services — landscape architecture and planning fees: Project-based fee revenue from municipal, county and corporate clients for services spanning community engagement, master planning, conceptual and site design, landscape architecture, lighting concept, construction documents, and construction administration. Engagements are scoped per project (e.g., Bagley Streetscape, Riverside Park Plaza, Beacon Park).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

livingLAB is a Detroit-based landscape architecture and planning studio that provides professional design, planning, and community engagement services. The firm designs parks, streetscapes, plazas, shared streets, and public spaces using a co-creation methodology that integrates community input. It serves as both a prime consultant to municipalities, counties, and private developers, and as a subconsultant to engineering and planning prime consultants.

Product overview

livingLAB delivers a single integrated professional services offering built around three practice pillars — Landscape Architecture & Urban Design, Planning & Master Planning, and Community Engagement & Co-Creation — that together produce named project deliverables such as Beacon Park, Bagley Shared Street, Riverside Park Plaza & Promenade, Detroit Arts Alleys, Oak Park Woods at Shepherd Park, and the Eliza Howell Park Master Plan. There is no software platform; rather, the practice operates as a unified design studio whose service modules (concept/visioning, site/landscape architecture, lighting, construction documentation and administration, and engagement) are combined on a per-project basis to deliver Triple Bottom Line outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landscape Architecture & Urban Design A core professional service offered by livingLAB covering the design of parks, streetscapes, plazas, public spaces, and urban environments. Aimed at municipal governments, county/regional agencies, and private developers seeking landscape and urban design expertise.
• Planning & Master Planning A core professional service covering comprehensive planning, master planning, and long-range planning for cities, communities, and developments. Designed for municipalities, counties, and private clients planning large-scale community or site transformations.
• Community Engagement & Co-Creation
• Beacon Park Project A 1.4-acre downtown Detroit park project designed by livingLAB in collaboration with the Downtown Detroit Partnership and the DTE Energy Foundation. The space features outdoor performance and reading rooms, a permanent stage, and a dining shed, and is designed to host year-round programming.
• Bagley Shared Street Project A shared-street / flush-street design project in Detroit's Mexicantown neighborhood that connects two parks and pedestrian-prioritizes the corridor. The project earned the 2017 Michigan Section APA Daniel H. Burnham Award and is cited by the firm as a flagship example of its shared street conversion expertise.
• Detroit Arts Alleys Project A downtown Detroit project that converts underutilized urban alleys into pedestrian-prioritized public spaces, adding programming, art, and gathering areas to the city's downtown fabric.
• Oak Park Woods Project A community planning and engagement initiative carried out with the City of Oak Park and Design Plus, applying livingLAB's co-creation process to shape a plan for a local woodland/park resource.
• Eliza Howell Park Project A planning engagement led by livingLAB for The Nature Conservancy focused on Eliza Howell Park, applying community planning and engagement methods to develop the park's plan.
• Riverside Park Project A 6.5-acre park designed by livingLAB in Detroit's Delray neighborhood, completed in 2019. The park is anchored by the Riverside Park Pavilion, which contains a multi-purpose room, concession space, and a public art piece inspired by Detroit industry.

Quantifiable outcome

• First shared street in the City of Detroit (Bagley, 2020)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major project partner — subconsultant relationship on multiple city of detroit projects, major project partner — subconsultant on arts alley initiative, major project partner — recurring collaboration on park and trail projects, mid-tier community collaboration partner and major collaborator on flagship beacon park project.

• WSPmajor project partner — subconsultant relationship on multiple city of detroit projectsImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWSP serves as the prime consultant engaging livingLAB as a landscape architecture subconsultant on City of Detroit projects including the Bagley Shared Street (2020) and the Riverside Park Plaza & Promenade (2023). livingLAB leads design of street layout, landscape, lighting, amenities, and paver design.
• OHM Advisorsmajor project partner — subconsultant on arts alley initiativeImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOHM Advisors served as the prime consultant on the Detroit Arts Alley Initiative (part of the Blight to Beauty Initiative), with livingLAB collaborating alongside artists, residents, and community leaders to reimagine 9 alleys with landscaping, stormwater management and pedestrian amenities.
• Wade Trimmajor project partner — recurring collaboration on park and trail projectsImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWade Trim partnered with livingLAB on the Oak Park Woods at Shepherd Park project (17 acres, $7.5M, planned completion 2026) and the 250-acre Eliza Howell Park Master Plan (2026). On Oak Park Woods, Wade Trim was the prime consultant; on Eliza Howell, the team also included Sidewalk Detroit.
• Sidewalk Detroitmid-tier community collaboration partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerSidewalk Detroit collaborated with livingLAB and Wade Trim on the Eliza Howell Park Master Plan for the City of Detroit GSD, bringing community engagement expertise to the 250-acre park vision.
• Downtown Detroit Partnershipmajor collaborator on flagship beacon park projectStrategic or Co-development PartnerDowntown Detroit Partnership was part of the inclusive community engagement team for Beacon Park alongside Project for Public Spaces, the DTE Energy planning team, and livingLAB — listening to stakeholders, residents, downtown businesses, and employees to shape the park's design.
• Project for Public Spacesmajor collaborator on flagship beacon park projectStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject for Public Spaces participated in the Beacon Park community engagement process alongside livingLAB, DTE Energy, and the Downtown Detroit Partnership, contributing placemaking expertise to the award-winning park.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• OLIN: Philadelphia-based landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with a national park and public-space portfolio. Overlaps in service category and project type (parks, plazas, civic design) but at a much larger scale.
• SmithGroup: Large multi-disciplinary AEC firm with a Detroit office and a national landscape architecture practice. Competes for the same Michigan municipal park and streetscape RFPs as livingLAB, though as part of a much broader service portfolio rather than a community-engagement specialty.
• SWA Group: National landscape architecture and urban design firm with deep experience in parks, plazas, and waterfronts. Comparable in service offering and project typology (parks, public realm), but operates at a materially larger scale and broader geographic footprint.

Direct peers

• Hamilton Anderson Associates: Detroit-based architecture, planning, and urban design firm with a strong civic and community-development portfolio. Direct local peer competing for similar City of Detroit and Michigan public-realm engagements.
• Stoss Landscape Urbanism: Boston- and Detroit-based landscape architecture and urban design practice focused on community-engaged public space, ecology, and resilience. Highly comparable mission and methodology to livingLAB's co-creation approach, though operating at a larger scale and broader geography.
• Project for Public Spaces: National non-profit and consultancy specializing in placemaking and community-driven public space design; was a co-collaborator with livingLAB on Beacon Park. Highly comparable mission in community-engaged public-realm design, though structured as a non-profit.
• SCAPE: New York-based landscape architecture and urban design practice with a strong portfolio of public waterfront, park, and climate-resilience projects. Comparable in community-engagement orientation and civic park expertise, though at larger scale.

Others

• WSP: Global engineering and professional services firm that engages livingLAB as a subconsultant on Detroit civic projects (Bagley, Riverside Park). Overlaps in the same client/procurement ecosystem; serves as a prime rather than a direct competitor.
• Wade Trim: Michigan-based civil engineering and planning firm that retains livingLAB as a subconsultant on Eliza Howell and Oak Park Woods. Comparable in operating geography and civic client base, but functions primarily as a prime consultant rather than a competing landscape architect.
• OHM Advisors: Michigan-headquartered engineering, architecture, and planning firm; serves as livingLAB's prime consultant on the Detroit Arts Alleys Initiative. Operates in the same civic and municipal ecosystem and shares client overlap with livingLAB.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/livinglabdet
• Facebookfacebook.com/livinglabdetroit
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/livinglab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 livingLAB