Andrea Cochran brings over 30 years of thoughtful landscape design to her practice in San Francisco. Known for seamlessly interweaving sustainable landscapes, art, and architecture, her designs highlight the experiential qualities of the built environment. A sense of intimacy and attention to detail infuse each project. In 1998 she established Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture where the firm tackles a wide range of project types and scales—from single family residences to hotels, wineries, affordable housing, schools, institutions, and public parks. Many of these projects have been widely published and recognized internationally, winning numerous awards.

Andrea lectures extensively, is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the recipient of the ASLA Design Medal in 2014. Andrea holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and is a former Resident at the American Academy in Rome. As a long-time resident of San Francisco, she is committed to contributing to the quality of the urban environment, serving as a Commissioner and Chair of the Civic Design Committee of the San Francisco Arts Commission for seven years. In 2014, Andrea and her office received the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Landscape Architecture.

Emily joined ACLA in 2004 and has played an integral role in the firm’s growth and development. She brings over 20 years of experience in landscape architecture and has led the design of many of the firm’s well-known projects—including Stone Edge Farm, Ackley Residence, Smith Cardiovascular Research Building and the Helen Diller Civic Center Playgrounds. In addition to directing the firm’s marketing strategies, strengthening its web presence and managing new technology and software, she has expanded the firm’s project base by maintaining successful client relationships, pioneering new project types and helping to move into new markets.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. Making visible elements of time, weather, and seasons as they are reflected within the human-made frameworks of design and building codes, Emily builds beautiful places that are meaningful in people’s lives.

Ana brings more than 30 years of finance experience working with a variety of clients, but mainly focused on architecture and design. She has overseen software conversions and is always interested in enhancing systems and employee relations. Having worked for ACLA for 17 years, she understands the commitment to excellence and has a deep appreciation for good design. She also loves dogs.

Sarah has been practicing landscape architecture for over 16 years. As a Senior Associate at ACLA, she oversees the design, documentation and implementation of her projects and plays a central role in the firm by providing planting design support and guidance on many projects. Her experience ranges from high end wineries, residences and institutional projects to small gardens.

Sarah began her landscape career designing and building gardens in San Francisco in 1996 after earning a Bachelor of Arts from Mills College. Starting her career at Delaney Cochran and Castillo, she developed her passion for landscape design. Joining ACLA in 2003, she has expanded her skills on both large and small projects. Sarah continues to develop her work by combining her background in art with her passion for plants to create richly textured designs.

As a Senior Associate with 14 years of experience, Amir manages the design, documentation and implementation of technically complex and sustainably driven projects that demand high levels of collaboration and effective coordination between multiple consultants and stakeholders.

During his career at Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture he has contributed to creating diverse landscapes that resonate due to their thoughtfulness, simplicity and beauty. Working on large scale projects in the public realm as well as intimate private gardens, he has learned that there are no short cuts to great landscape architecture. Success as a team stems from a rigor and consistent attention to detail throughout the entire design process – from initial client consultation to construction.

Shannon oversees the design, documentation, and implementation of complex projects. Throughout her career, she has worked on a variety of institutional, residential, and commercial projects from the concept phase through construction. From large scale projects to small scale interventions, Shannon is dedicated to seeing a project through and is committed to developing thoughtful designs and innovative solutions that result in unexpected nuances.

Through an interest in site-specific art and earthworks, Shannon came to landscape architecture while studying sculpture during her undergraduate years at Pomona. As an experienced landscape architect with a background in art, she continually seeks opportunities to experiment with materials and design interactive spaces that resonate with their users.

Shannon earned her Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from Pomona College. She is a licensed landscape architect in the state of California.

With ACLA since 2015, Patrick brings a passion for contextually rooted designs which seek to choreograph experience and provide meaningful connections between the spaces we inhabit and larger landscape narratives. Drawing from the history of a place, he is particularly interested in the use of landscape as an artful response to the social and environmental challenges of the modern built environment.

With attention to detail and craft, Patrick manages the design, documentation, and implementation of many project types with a focus on effective coordination and collaboration. His background in music inspires a sensibility for distilled designs, finding resolution through rhythm, balance, and repetition. Patrick earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia with focuses on urban forestry and horticulture, and an Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley with focuses on urban design and landscape response to climate change. He recently served as guest designer at the International Design Workshop for Pazhou Island, in Guangzhou China.

Alex joined ACLA in the Fall of 2018 after seven years of practice in the eastern and southern United States. His work has included the planning, design, and realization of public, institutional, and residential projects throughout the northeast, southeast, and California, and ranging in scale from small gardens to 300-acre sites. Through his work, Alex strives to develop strong concepts born from a landscape’s unique living systems and cultural context, and carry this out in a clear, ordered design with an attention to detail. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University’s Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, where field studies of urban design in Haiti, regional planning on the U.S.-Mexico border, and explorations of the unique landscape of coastal Louisiana fed his fascination with diverse environments. Drawn to the stunning natural landscapes of California, Alex brings his experience to ACLA where he manages residential and institutional projects across the U.S.

Judith comes to landscape architecture through her interest in the relationship between design, perception, identity and value. Prior to pursuing landscape architecture, Judith studied localized food systems by working for a 1-acre kitchen garden in Charlottesville, Virginia and a land trust that establishes and manages community gardens throughout Providence, Rhode Island. Through this work she became immersed in the implications of land stewardship at a variety of scales and became increasingly curious about how the design of these landscapes could influence the way people perceive and draw value from them.

Judith received her Masters of Landscape Architecture from Cornell University. She joined ACLA in 2019 and is excited to delve deeper into designing spaces that stimulate people’s sense of their surroundings and draw emotion across a vast range of scales.

Preston is a passionate landscape designer with a deep commitment to the creation of beautiful, timeless spaces. He firmly believes that the process of reading the landscape, revealing patterns, learning through exploration and unearthing beauty through simplicity are defining principles of landscape architecture that inform design.

His professional experience is an assemblage of time spent in plant nurseries, independent design work, a project management positions at a high-end residential design + build firm as well as a landscape architecture firm with a range of projects from high-end residential to multi-family commercial and hospitality.

Preston received his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design and master’s of Landscape Architecture from Auburn University. He joined ACLA in 2023 after five years of working in Austin, TX. Due to his varied work experience, Preston brings with him a strong foundation of technical knowledge to the ACLA team as well as a passion for meaningful, intentional and timeless design.

Kylie joined ACLA at the beginning of 2021 and has contributed to residential, commercial, and public design projects. Kylie’s love for design and her interest in sustainability lead her to the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley. She graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and minors in sustainable design and city planning. Upon graduation, the Landscape Architecture Department awarded her the Geraldine Knight Scott Traveling Fellowship and H. Leland Vaughan Memorial Scholarship.

Kylie views landscape architecture as a unique problem-solving tool that serves to improve environmental and human well-being through thoughtful design. Her interests include water management, planting design, and community-based design.

Virginia is passionate about creating an immersive experience in landscape through understanding the intersectionality of people and the built environment. Her work is driven by a fascination with the natural processes of landscape that change over time and how design can influence people’s perceptions and functionality of the landscape. With a background in architecture, she continually seeks opportunities to include innovative strategies in her design to enhance user experience and engagement with the environment.

Virginia received her bachelor’s degree specializing in architecture design and environmental studies from University of Toronto and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley.

Christina joined ACLA in the summer of 2021 as a creative team member whose compassion helps bring expression and equity to various projects. Her intuitive design style, based on concepts of mental and physical boundaries, earned an ASLA Student Merit Award and Design Excellence Award at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and minor in construction management.

Christina imagines an artful harmony between the built and natural world in which experiences are meant to move people emotionally and to leave lasting impressions. She believes that landscape architecture is an instrument that can incorporate pathways for people to naturally fall into this environment and to connect people of all backgrounds. It should illuminate the current status of the world, the richness of our environment, and how we can protect it.

Tyler Cloud hails from the verdant forests of NW Michigan and spent 10 years in NYC as a modern dancer and Pilates instructor before pursuing a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from the Knowlton School at The OSU. Tyler’s background in dance taught him that performance spaces and landscape architecture often share a profound kinship, an insight that informs the way he articulates the elements that shape the atmosphere of his projects and influences varied “performers” within those spaces.

Tyler’s goal is to understand the layered narratives contained within the prehistoric, historic, and present use of a site, as well as the role of spaces as emotional and spiritual palimpsests for individuals and social groups, in order to craft forward-looking, effective, and sensitive designs. He believes that the spaces people frequent can have an enormous impact on one’s everyday life. To him, the transformative power of ordinary places renders them sacred and because of this, designers have a responsibility to listen to marginalized voices, foster environmentally sound practices, and create spaces that improve quality of life.

Natalia’s professional experience ranges from architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning in South America and the United States. Growing up in Bogotá, Colombia, at a high plateau within the Andes Mountains, she is intrigued by the relationship between the built environment and the natural systems. Her curiosity led her to landscape architecture in search of opportunities to create meaningful connections between people and their surroundings while revealing the ecological and cultural identity of a place. Drawn to the Bay Area by its natural beauty and design culture, Natalia is committed to pursuing her belief in design as a catalyst for the healing and regeneration of communities through rigorous artful design.

Natalia holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from Auburn University, a Master of Urban and Territorial Development from Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain), and both a Bachelor and Master of Architecture from Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia).