Search this site

Lardner/Klein Landscape Architects, P.C. (L/KLA) is an award-winning design and planning firm with the ability to clearly convey ideas to clients, citizens, and team members. Working closely with our clients, L/KLA develops effective, creative, and cost-sensitive solutions responsive to our client’s Neabsco Creek Boardwalk Simpson Park Playground Nachusa Grasslands Neabsco Creek Boardwalk 1/9 PROJECTS CONTACT info@lardnerklein.com phone (703) 739-0972 fax (703) 739-0973 120 N Alfred St. #100 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 About Careers Media

WHO ARE WE? WE ARE: PASSIONATE Our passion is the collective public landscape. We work with communities at local and regional scales to plan, design, and embrace stewardship at each site. Projects take the form of trails, greenways, parks, streetscapes, historic sites, and natural areas. We help clients and communities develop creative solutions that are sustainable, culturally sensitive, and cost effective. EXPERIENCED Our firm brings 34 years of practice as planners, landscape architects, and urban designers working in diverse communities. Creative problem solving and iterative, process-based thinking drive our practice. We paint a big picture of future opportunities coupled with detailed implementation strategies to achieve the vision and project mission. With years of experience, we astutely define key issues and challenges engaging in ongoing and relevant community dialogue, generating innovative solutions and effective results. CREATIVE We harness imaginative ideas and embrace the nuances of each problem to come up with unique and comprehensive solutions. We seek to engage communities to develop ideas from the ground up, articulating and refining visions and dreams. COLLABORATIVE We form, lead and work with multi-disciplined teams explicitly tailored for each specific project. Through careful collaboration, our teams—composed of designers, planners, engineers, scientists, cultural resource experts, interpretive planners, professional cost estimators, and others—respond to the inherent characteristics of sites and the context of the places and communities we engage. VISIONARY We employ regenerative and resilient design tools on every project to assist communities in shaping a more positive future, one that is responsive to immediate and long-term changes induced by factors such as limited budgets, climate change impacts, and demographic shifts. CONTACT info@lardnerklein.com phone (703) 739-0972 fax (703) 739-0973 120 N Alfred St. #100 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 Meet the Team Careers Media

Port Deposit Working Waterfront Master Plan, Cecil County, MD A historic port town on the Susquehanna River, Port Deposit’s waterfront has been home to many different maritime industrial uses over the ensuing decades up until the 1980s. Since then, the Town has been working to revitalize its waterfront and expand public waterfront access, while addressing one of its biggest challenges— tidal flooding from the Susquehanna River and opening of the Conowingo Dam flood gates coupled with stormwater runoff from adjoining hillsides. Through a collaborative public process that included a Town- appointed waterfront committee, a public brainstorming session and a community design workshop, four goals emerged that capture the range of ideas that moved forward throughout the planning process: Increase economic activity in the Town using community-based assets and cooperative regional marketing Improve safety and convenience of linkages between the Town and Waterfront Enhance shoreline access and circulation Enhance appearance of public areas Increasing the resiliency of the waterfront areas also emerged as a common theme. Design concepts were developed for waterfront areas that were needed to adapt features to more frequent flooding while continuing to provide access to waterfront features. The master plan was completed in September, 2018.

City of Bowie Trails Master Plan Update Bowie, MD The City of Bowie, Maryland is blessed with many small segments of bicycle and pedestrian facilities, but they lack an identifiable network with a strong community image. The City of Bowie’s 2016 Sustainability Plan targeted two specific goals for improving the City’s walkability and expanding existing trails for biking, hiking and family walks into a safe interconnected network. The City funded an update to the Trails Master Plan to address these goals and to set new priorities for future capital improvement projects to help achieve the goals. Updating the City Trails Master Plan presented an opportunity to address current issues and the needs of the trail system’s users. The Trails Plan Update was conducted over an eight-month process that included a community survey and two trails planning workshops that formed the basis for the draft plan. The resulting document includes the network goals and priorities, gap analysis, alternatives evaluation, trail network recommendations and trail design recommendations, as well as guidance on implementation and funding. The plan was approved in September of 2019.

Upperville Park Concept Plan + Playground Uppervillle, VA L/KLA updated a conceptual master plan for the Upperville Community Park. The concept plan addressed the following key program elements: Historical context of the Upperville battlefield is taken into consideration, as views from the park toward battlefield lands are preserved and existing battlefield interpretive panels and integrated with the design of a pergola to create more of a space for appreciating the battlefield views Materials and construction practices are proposed that are in keeping with the styles and vernacular of Upperville and applied for all park structures. An accessible pedestrian path links the existing interpretive signs and proposed shade pergola to the proposed parking area and restrooms. A parking area with permeable pavers or other porous pavement options is proposed to reduce runoff and address New features include architecturally appropriate structures for a picnic pavilion and to house portable restrooms A nature playground incorporating black locust (Robinia) play components include a swing set, slide,climbing structure, and Robinia log obstacle course. Nature playgrounds are intended to encourage imaginative play and blend with a natural setting, as is appropriate at this historical site. Shade from the existing trees and the pastoral view south makes for a pleasant playground and picnic setting. Driplines of trees were avoided, as this concept takes tree preservation into consideration, with the maximum quantity of existing trees to be preserved.

All-ages Playground Historic & Vernacular Style Place- making & Master Plans Resiliance & Water Pedestrian Circulation Community Engagement Active Recreation Trails & Connections Landscape Architecture Design

Watkins Regional Park Master Park Development Plan The Maryland-National Capital Park Planning Commission selected L/KLA and team consultants to prepare a master plan for Watkins Regional Park located in Upper Marlboro, Prince George’s County, MD. Park inventories and analyses, facility and maintenance surveys, staff interviews, public meetings, and on-line surveys provided direction and perspective in solidifying a framework and vision for the park. Areas of focus included park circulation and neighborhood connections; parking; revenue and use analysis; park amenities and siting; events and programming; inventory and protection of natural resources; and infrastructure needs. Watkins Regional Park was initially developed in the late 1960’s. Improvements have been made over the years, but many facilities remain as installed over forty years ago. This 835-acre property receives over one million visitors per year. More than half of the park is protected by various environmental and policy constraints from active development. Infrastructure (athletic fields, farm, picnic facilities, restrooms, etc.) is in need of upgrading, and pressures for additional uses continue to challenge the park’s operations. Areas of focus include park circulation, parking, revenue and use analysis, park amenities and siting, events and programming, inventory and protection of natural resources, and infrastructure needs. The plan recognizes the strengths of the existing park and builds off its successes through enhancements to playground and family oriented gathering spaces, nature center, farm/agriculture, and sports facilities. Recommended improvements to picnic and play features include the introduction of social hubs with seating and food options, a sprayground, and parking renovations. An outdoor pavilion is recommended for accommodating special events and revenue-generating programs. Enhancements to the “northern athletic complex” will be supported with new fields, parking, trails, and picnic shelters at the “southern athletic complex.” The Watkins Regional Park Master Park Development Plan was developed with an open and collaborative public engagement process. An array of outreach methods were used, including: public meetings and focus groups; working with an appointed stakeholder group; interviews with key staff and agency representatives; an on-line survey; a participatory dot poster survey with displays at the Watkins Nature Center (WNC) and the Largo/Kettering/Perrywood Community Center; and attendance at park events. A copy of the Watkins Regional Park Master Park Development Plan is available online here .

Intelligence Community Campus Bethesda, Maryland As a project subconsultant, L/KLA developed the integrated campus landscape architecture plan and a signature entry design for the multi-year redevelopment of the historic, 30-acre campus in Bethesda, MD. The team composed work from multiple, ongoing SATOCC Building Task Orders into a comprehensive long-term campus redevelopment plan that recognizes operational budget limitations and is considerate of the capital program. Planning efforts included the integration of historical building friezes removed during demolition, presentations to and interactions with the neighboring community and the successful incorporation of security and accessibility constraints. The multi-phase implementation strategy is integrated with the multi-year campus building program. Elisabeth Lardner was recognized as a key team leader and “go-to” consultant; entrusted with primary client liaison during regulatory reviews, community design development meetings and owner/client design reviews. The Potomac River palisade setting is reflected in the concept plan which integrates landscape amenities with stormwater management best practices, incorporating the working landscape with the aesthetic landscape. It presents a coherent, attractive, aesthetically pleasing and engaging campus environment respectful of operational needs and secure space requirements. Click link below to read about the campus Ribbon Cutting in 2015

Lardner/Klein Landscape Architects, P.C. (L/KLA) is an award-winning design and planning firm with the ability to clearly convey ideas to clients, citizens, and team members. Working closely with our clients, L/KLA develops effective, creative, and cost-sensitive solutions responsive to our client’s Neabsco Creek Boardwalk Simpson Park Playground Nachusa Grasslands Neabsco Creek Boardwalk 1/9 PROJECTS OUR WORK CONTACT info@lardnerklein.com phone (703) 739-0972 fax (703) 739-0973 120 N Alfred St. #100 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 About Careers Media