Surfacedesign

Surfacedesign, Inc. is a landscape architecture and urban design firm based in San Francisco, California. Led by James A. Lord, Roderick Wyllie, and Geoff di Girolamo, Surfacedesign is a multidisciplinary team of landscape architects, horticulture specialists, urban designers, artists and architects collaborating to realize dynamic parks, campuses, plazas, waterfronts, civic landscapes, master plans, and private […]

New Geologies was inspired by Luigi Ghirri’s photographic idea of ‘New Geographies’. Through his work he sought to “suggest or point out a possible itinerary through the outside world, which seemed to [him] ever more blurry, indestructible, and incomprehensible — a boundless kingdom of analogy and fragmentation”. For this collection, stone material is sourced from […]

Bayfront Park is a dynamic 5.5-acre park along the evolving eastern edge of Mission Bay in San Francisco. With its palette of rugged and reclaimed materials, Bayfront Park reconnects present-day Mission Bay to its maritime history. Mission Bay has been in a period of planning and rapid development since the early 2000s. As a flexible […]

Within Expedia Group’s new 40-acre corporate campus on the Seattle coast, the Prow is a biophilic retreat where employees can clear their minds or gather for creative meetings away from the day-to-day office suites. Approached from the main offices, the Prow appears in the distance as a landform: a fully planted plane emerging from the […]

Located in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, Pierpoint Lane is comprised of a public park, a major streetscape (3rd Street) and a public amenity roof level terrace. The site is organized around a linear park that connects 3rd Street to Bridgeview Way. While the site was originally intended to be solely an EVA […]

The property sits at the top of Trinity Road, above the forested hills and valleys of Sonoma county. The project unfolded in two phases and is fundamentally a story of resilience and transformation. During the first phase, the design team sited three guest houses designed by the architects, downhill from the existing main house on […]

Expedia HQ is located a mile north of downtown Seattle on a 40-acre waterfront site. The campus has unparalleled sweeping views of the Puget Sound, Mount Rainier, and Downtown Seattle. Until 1969 the site existed as water with two piers extending toward the Sound, but over the course of 7 years from ‘62 to ‘69 […]

Located in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, Pierpoint Lane is comprised of a public park, a major streetscape (3rd Street) and a public amenity roof level terrace. The site is organized around a linear park that connects 3rd Street to Bridgeview Way. While the site was originally intended to be solely an EVA […]

Expedia HQ is located a mile north of downtown Seattle on a 40-acre waterfront site. The campus has unparalleled sweeping views of the Puget Sound, Mount Rainier, and Downtown Seattle. Until 1969 the site existed as water with two piers extending toward the Sound, but over the course of 7 years from ‘62 to ‘69 […]

Located at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge on 7.5 acres of National Park land in Sausalito, The Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM) features outdoor and indoor exhibition spaces and programming for children from 6 months of age to 10 years. The campus-wide master plan and renovation honors the architectural integrity of the historic […]

Located on the vegetative gradient between the oak savannah of the Santa Cara Valley and the redwood forests of the of the Santa Cruz mountains, the Uliveto residence seamlessly nestles into its three-acre site. From its conception, the design aimed to blend into its natural surroundings and borrow the vistas of the adjacent mountains. Thus, […]

Situated just north of downtown Seattle, the public Beach at Expedia Group follows a quarter mile of the Puget Sound waterfront edge. Tying in with adjacent projects along the waterfront, the park recalls the native coastal landscape of the Pacific Northwest and connects directly to the surrounding communities via the Elliott Bay Bike Trail. Prior […]

Perched at the edge of Tank Hill in San Francisco, California, this garden is an exploration of prospect and refuge—both nestling into and perching above the dramatic topography it calls home. In San Francisco, project size is limited by the high cost of living and steep topography of the city. As such, designers are often […]

Auckland International Airport is strategically located on the eastern edge of an isthmus of the North Island of New Zealand, where the topography unfolds into the rugged coastline. Along this eastern coast, New Zealand welcomes the globe’s first light of day and watches as the seasons change in dramatic shifts. Although 70% of visitors to […]

Anaha —which translates into Reflection of Light in Hawaiian—was designed to capture and reflect the light of the Pacific Ocean as well as the dramatic and ever-changing sky in Honolulu. Set within the Ward Village, this multi-family residential project celebrates the beauty of the shoreline, informed by native Hawaiian plants and traditions—ultimately paying homage to […]

Located on the vegetative gradient between the oak savannah of the Santa Cara Valley and the redwood forests of the of the Santa Cruz mountains, the Woodside residence seamlessly nestles into its three-acre site. From its conception, the design aimed to blend into its natural surroundings and borrow the vistas of the adjacent mountains. Thus, […]

Set within one of the oldest Zinfandel vineyards in California, the St Helena residence floats above the surrounding vines, extending the landscape into the house and pulling life out into the garden. An olive-tree lined gravel driveway frames the entrance to the St Helena property, and culminates in the oak-lined property edge, where an existing […]