Philosophy
BGB Design Group is known for the individual attention we pay to each design commission.
The following is an excerpt from the BGB by-laws, as written in December, 1997:
Goals and Purpose: “To practice the profession of landscape architecture with elders such as Olmstead, Halprin, Church, Sasaki and Eckbo as our mentors. We shall endeavor to practice “as it should be done“, and not fall into the traps of fads, trends, and short-term design effects.”
In January, 1998 BGB Design Group was founded with a staff of five. By 2006 our staff had increased to nearly 20. The recession of 2006-07 created a change in our firm, both in terms of staff size and types of projects. We began focusing on more public work to balance the planned residential community projects that had become our specialty. Our workload evolved to a healthy balance of public and developer projects, and we find that experience gained in both the public and private sectors makes us more well-rounded and capable as design professionals.
Our philosophy also includes volunteerism. We have provided pro-bono planning and design services for large projects such as the Aliso Creek Corridor, to small projects like a children’s play area for Fairview State Hospital. Other pro-bono projects have included housing for the Orange County Rescue Mission and for Habitat for Humanity in Riverside, as well as assisting in the beautification of local schools and neighborhoods such as Paint-Your-Heart-Out in the City of Anaheim. We believe that our world provides us with design and preservation opportunities, and in turn we will help wherever we can to make our world a better place.
BGB Design Group is a California Corporation of Registered Landscape Architects #2214.
OUR VISON
At BGB we do not have a “formula” for the design style of our projects. Every project is unique.
When BGB was hired to be the master planners and landscape architects for the refurbishment of the Avalon Downtown Waterfront on Catalina Island, we had no precedent other than to make the project feel comfortable [connected] and appropriate to the iconic 1920’s – 30’s site. Yet, we needed to create new improvements such as plazas and street closures to make the waterfront more pedestrian-friendly, public transportation-efficient, attractive, and lively…without compromising the existing look and feel of the popular historic site. By all measures, those goals were met.
OUR DESIGN APPROACH
We take pride in our collaborative abilities, our openness to diverse viewpoints, and our willingness to incorporate alternate ideas and viewpoints that can benefit the design process and product. BGB, Inc. has developed a network of collaborative resources that we regularly consult and employ, which draw upon talented specialists in architectural, engineering, ecological, environmental, maritime, economic, graphic/way-finding, horticultural, and artistic disciplines.
Overall our design approach stems from our belief in two essential design principles: connectivity and appropriateness.
1. Connectivity – between the land and the built overlay, between the integrity of the environment and humanity’s essential needs, between culture and a project’s ability to sustain, express and enhance it’s distinctiveness.
2. Appropriateness – of a design proposal to it’s social, historical, cultural, economic, and architectural context and adjacencies.
We attribute our faithfulness to both principles for having received national, regional, and local awards in recognition of the work that we have successfully nurtured through to fruition.
