Designing cultural landscapes across the West Coast and beyond

San Francisco was the home of SWA’s first West Coast office, opening in 1959 as Sasaki, Walker Associates (and re-established in 1964) as a response to the quickly evolving region. Built on the tech boom’s expanding office market, and under the leadership of Managing Principal Rene Bihan since 2004, this generation of the SF studio has grown its portfolio into an exciting and diverse mix of projects, including but not limited to workplace and higher ed campuses, mixed-use/entertainment districts, and culturally relevant landscapes.

Over the years, the team has had the good fortune to be at the front lines of the action, utilizing landscape to address relevant issues related to the changing world. The studio showcases landscape as a proactive and effective response to the impacts of climate change and as a tool in a developer’s toolbox to adjust to market conditions.

Selected Projects

SWA’s San Francisco office is located at the confluence of Union Square, Chinatown, and the Financial District. The SF team members mirror the city’s diversity and energy and frequently collaborate with community partners including ASLA, SPUR, ULI, AIA, and other organizations, to host events and participate in educational and professional activities to build and bolster the landscape practice.

The studio’s ethos is wonderfully captured by former SWA President and SF Studio Managing Principal Bill Callaway, “We don’t believe in the ‘caped hero’ approach to design or planning a studio centered around the work of a single, charismatic talent. We believe in the creativity, energy, and refinement that comes out of a group of highly talented people bouncing ideas around together and freely critiquing each other.”