Award

The West Eau Claire Park Project: The Launch; The Cove; The Surf Deck. 10 | J UNE 2015 O2 Planning + Design Inc. In fact, O2 would sit nicely with many of the forward-thinking high-tech firms such as Apple, IBM and Intel. Olson strongly believes in sourcing new methods and technology to complete often very challenging jobs. "The work we are doing is at the edge of our field," explains Olson. "We bring new methods, approaches and tools to our projects in order to meet complex cli- ent and public needs. We operate with the highest levels of technology available to our profession." In fact, O2 is one of the first companies to use geodesign – a set of planning and design methods that tightly couples computerized impact and evaluation model- ling with the creation of designs that are subjected to quantitative valuation of their performance. "The geodesign approach is like using environmental impact assessment, not after the fact, but rather, throughout the design process to allow a recursive, itera- tive circle of design creation and assessment – a very sophisticated set of tools that allows you to see the performance of options as well as to present them in a highly visual way with sophisticated 3D modelling," explains Olson. O2 strongly believes in communicating in an engaging manner, and geodesign allows the company to do just that. "We often work on complex, sometimes highly contested landscapes where there are competing values. We strive for solutions that address multiple issues and the geodesign approach facilitates that. The kinds of technology and more importantly, our approach, allows us to integrate disciplines and scales in projects ranging from the design of a plaza to planning of the region." O2 has been in business for over 20 years and has witnessed a number of changes in the landscape architecture, planning and urban design world, but Olson believes the integration of multiple disciplines into the process has been the most fundamental issue. No one profession can lay claim to overseeing the design of our environments. "New approaches are changing how we design and plan across scales. They allow us to generate new solutions and to see how well our designs are performing in terms of ecology, esthetics, economics and social equity," says Olson. "Our knowl- edge and technology has changed and continues to change rapidly, which constantly makes us re-evaluate how our designs need to respond." It's this ability to adapt to any scale and economic climate that has been the suc- cess of O2. Even during the recessions, O2 "just kept growing," explains Olson. "We didn't slow down at all as we hedged our bets between detailed design and planning. While construction may stop, planning doesn't necessarily stop. The company's philosophy is to participate in different sectors and disciplines. O2 is split between public and private sector clients and is very diversified that way. We also have a highly skilled, flexible staff that can step from one job to another. There is nothing more important than the staff you have, and I have the best staff I could ever wish for," says Olson. Looking ahead, Olson believes that increased appreciation of the importance of the landscape and landscape architecture, at all scales, will lead to the design of more culturally and ecologically responsive environments. "People will realize this approach to design, where you consider the landscape first, is the future. We need everyone to have a much greater understanding of landscape." A

• Cover