PETERSEN STUDIO is a landscape architecture and planning practice committed to creating engaging and enduring places that are rooted within their cultural and environmental contexts. Each project reflects our commitment to design, craft, and sustainability.
PETERSEN STUDIO delivers complex landscape architecture projects, including fast-track work, specialized on-structure landscapes, and urban parks, and waterfronts. We foster collaborative relationships with architects, engineers, artists, ecologists, soil scientists, economists, and operations specialists to realize each project's full potential. This approach allows us to develop high-performance solutions through a process that is both creatively intuitive and technically rational.
PETERSEN STUDIO is a California Corporation and San Francisco Local Business Enterprise.
JACOB PETERSEN
RLA, ASLA
Jacob Petersen founded PETERSEN STUDIO in 2014. Significant leadership experience within all phases of project design and implementation allows Jacob to effectively integrate research and design vision with high-quality technical detailing to deliver iconic and enduring landscapes.
During Jacob's 14-year tenure with Hargreaves Associates, he was Principal-in-Charge of many of the firm’s award-winning, national-profile landscape architecture and planning projects. Notable public projects include Discovery Green, Houston’s 12-acre $53M central park, enjoyed annually by over a million visitors, Belo Garden in the heart of downtown Dallas, Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s bustling South Waterfront District, San Diego’s $49M Waterfront Park, and the Austin Federal Courthouse. Private landscapes include the $330M Burlingame Point Campus, ResMed’s Corporate Campus in San Diego, The Infinity in San Francisco's SOMA district, Vespr high-rise residential development in downtown Oakland, and ParkView West, a hybrid high-rise residential and park project in Chicago. Jacob thrives in collaborative teams with fluid dialogue of ideas and perspectives.
MAGGIE MORROW
RLA, RA, LEED AP BD+C
Maggie Morrow joined PETERSEN STUDIO in 2016 and serves as the Office Director and a Senior Associate. During her ten years at Petersen Studio, Maggie has managed the firm's largest and most complex waterfront and multi-family residential projects, including the Burlingame Point Campus, Harbor Park Schematic Design, Gateway Crossings Park, and Transbay Block 4. Before joining Petersen Studio, Maggie worked with Jacob Petersen on several urban park and waterfront projects including San Diego's County Administration Center Waterfront Park.
Maggie's approach to project development begins with listening to the needs of the site and its systems. She synthesizes input from research, site conditions, and stakeholders to inform design and project development. Within the office, she tracks overlapping project schedules and works to build a collaborative team culture. Maggie believes that successful projects are a result of iterative refinement rather than prescribed approaches.