The acclaimed national leader in planning, landscape architecture and civil engineering LandDesign has announced its acquisition of the Washington, D.C.-area engineering firm BC Consultants. The acquired firm, which is retaining all its employees, has been renamed LandDesign and will add a new and strategic Fairfax County, Va., location for the multidisciplinary firm of more than 200 people currently operating five vibrant and growing offices in the metro areas of Charlotte, N.C.; Washington, D.C.; Dallas, Tx.; Orlando, Fla.; and Boulder, Colo.

This is a first-ever acquisition for LandDesign in its 40-year history. The selection of the design-focused, 14-person civil engineering firm BC Consultants, Inc., based in Fair Lakes, Va., reflects LandDesign’s growing presence in the Mid-Atlantic and Washington D.C. metro markets, where it employs landscape architects, civil engineers, planners and urban designers. The new Northern Virginia studio will infuse complementary experience and key professional services as well as expertise in the public sector and in the education market, where LandDesign has been growing its client list.

“We’ve committed to a strategic goal of providing all of our services in every office, allowing us to better serve our clients in the development process, from idea to reality,” says Rhett Crocker, president of LandDesign. “In particular, this investment in acquiring BC Consultants allows us to nearly double our experience in the market and grow our integrated practice with an engineering team steeped in a similar culture of design excellence and creating value for its clients.”

LandDesign and BC Consultants reached an agreement for the acquisition in December. The expansion aligns with LandDesign’s organic growth trajectory, supporting the firm’s successful and unique methodology while allowing the merged group to better service clients regionally with more in-house civil engineering resources. The two firms also share a focus on cultivating highly talented expert practitioners in integrated service delivery. Like LandDesign, which had 31 people in the D.C. area prior to the acquisition, BC Consultants has supported landscape architecture and field surveying services in house in addition to its core of civil engineering, creating a valuable approach to full land design and development services for clients including real estate developers, architects, public agencies, municipalities and corporations. 

The merged firms, totaling 200-plus nationally, also share a belief in creating enduring value for client and community, “creating places that matter,” says Matt Clark, PLA, managing partner of LandDesign’s D.C. office. “We all believe in providing great service to our clients and working collaboratively with them to advance their vision -- not merely our design ideals,” he says.

Clark emphasizes that both LandDesign and BC Consultants have been active in the Mid-Atlantic market for about 35 years, and both are well-known players with significant established footprints. BC Consultants also brings deep familiarity working with public agencies and government and education clients, strengthening LandDesign’s knowledge base on the area’s priorities, dynamics and regulatory challenges. “We’re similarly value-driven firms who see high-quality design delivery as a given,” says Clark. “Even more important, both firms believe that delivering projects to endure the test of time is essential to creating value for our clients and the community.”

“LandDesign has an excellent reputation as a leading design firm supporting top development groups and public agencies, making it an atmosphere for continued success,” says Jim Scanlon, L.S., P.E., LEED AP, newly named Director of Engineering for LandDesign’s Washington, D.C. leadership team, which includes landscape architects and partners Stephanie Pankiewicz, PLA, ASLA and Gabriela Cañamar Clark, PLA, as well as LandDesign cofounder and former president Peter Crowley, PLA.

Also in the Washington, D.C. office, the executive director of growth Deborah Miller adds, “As LandDesign continues to execute growth strategies to build our client portfolio, offices and our people, our new colleagues will be an incredible asset for ensuring we are successful, providing insight and mentorship to our upcoming practitioners and building on an entrepreneurial culture with diverse opportunities for growth.”

About LandDesign

Founded in 1978, LandDesign is an award-winning design firm offering urban design, planning, civil engineering, and landscape architecture solutions to public and private sector clients across the globe. With offices across the United States, the LandDesign team effectively brings innovative, buildable, sustainable, and ecologically responsible projects to life worldwide. The firm always asks the question, “Why just make something when you can create something that matters?” LandDesign: Creating places that matter. More at www.LandDesign.com.