Meet Our Designers
Our Design Team Works Hard for Fun
Our design team is a diverse and talented lot. Not only do they bring their unique perspective to every project, but each designer is also a Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI). Which means, they’re not only designing for aesthetics and fun, but also with safety in mind. From playground designers to custom designers, conceptors to sculptors and artists, we’ll help you create one-of-a-kind playgrounds that become a source of community pride.
"Creating joy for kids is what drives me."
Scott brings more than 30 years of design experience and a childhood spent building cities in the sandbox to his leadership of our design team. His professional design background ranges from custom exhibits and displays to children’s museums and installations. Scott understands the intricacies of making a stunning visual impact while also offering a very personal experience. He is our color expert who believes "color doesn’t just offer decorative value, it directly affects our emotions, behaviors, and well-being." Scott believes that every playground should inspire the imagination of children, and they’ll take it from there.
"Every project, we push a little further beyond ourselves."
Tory has been with Landscape Structures since 2006, using his background in fine arts to bring an incredible sense of creativity and thoughtfulness to the custom playgrounds he designs. Most of his inspiration comes from listening to his clients’ ideas and needs and working hand-in-hand with them through the final outcome. For Tory, the key to creating iconic play areas and gathering spaces stems from a simple question, “Would I be excited to play on this playground?"
"If I were to look into the future, I could see sounds, light, music, heat sensors and color changes be incorporated into Play."
As Standard Design Manager since 2022, Abby brings enthusiasm for design and managerial expertise from a background overseeing interior design showrooms. A child of baseball enthusiasts, her memories of the playground involve the sound of the bat crushing the ball and a "heads up!" fly ball warning. She loves seeing new projects come in from all over the world and draws inspiration from the ambition and cheer of the students at Glen Lake Elementary whose inclusive playground fundraising efforts came to life and went viral on TikTok.
"I’ve always loved swinging. The experience of feeling like you can touch the sky is awesome."
Allison wears many hats at Landscape Structures. Some days, she’s designing playgrounds. Other days, she’s designing custom graphics for signage. And some days, she’s designing company tradeshow exhibits. But the greatest part of what she does is creating fun, imaginative environments for kids to play and grow. Allison loves the collaboration that comes from her team’s dedication to constant improvement. Going from concept to development to installation is very rewarding.
"I enjoy updating and creating environments that our playgrounds will be presented in."
As a kid Brandon used to swing as high as he could almost to the point where he thought he could fly. Brandon now uses his 3D design expertise to help others fly through and around our animated playground designs. Pulling from his enjoyable work environment at Landscape Structures to create these 3D fly through animations experiences, Brandon makes sure when he is designing to think of every possible detail right down to the textures and background visuals. Brandon focuses on the quality of our equipment to show that it can last far into the future.
"I love to design playgrounds in all shapes, sizes and colors - You want a pink Barbie® playground? I can design it!"
Christine has over 20 years of playground design experience and knows just how personal a playground can be for a community. After studying mechanical drafting and design, she has devoted herself to going above and beyond when it comes to custom playground design. Christine believes a playground concept should be rooted in the community, creating a far more invested experience—while ensuring her clients are getting the highest play value for their budgets.
"I invest a little piece of myself into every project that I work on."
Cole celebrates his visits to the playground as one of the first freedoms he had as a child, and the equipment as a catalyst for imagination and friendship. He’s now able to create that reality for others. Working in 3D opens a vast world of possibilities. And working collaboratively inspires innovation. Cole and his team are constantly working to push beyond what’s expected of a playground render to accurately reflect the quality of our products to customers.
"I design with future generations in mind that promotes kids to play and interact with each other to be more inclusive."
Dave's past experiences as a sculptor and painter with GFRC products gives him a unique approach to projects and makes him a key member of our expert design team. Dave enjoys the family like teamwork that goes into designing every project. With each project having its own requirements and constraints it keeps the job interesting and challenging at the same time. Dave particularly loves being able to integrate GFRC equipment into his designs to lead to a more natural outdoor aesthetic to play.
"One of my favorite projects included drawing and programming epoxy painted signs."
The laid-back atmosphere and approachable culture at Landscape Structures has kept Dave on our side for over 30 years. He got his start on playgrounds through an old rickety merry-go-round at his elementary school. Naturally, this led to an interest in architectural drawing. Now he designs custom items and signs for the best playgrounds in the world.
"Nothing’s scripted. Every project brings a new story and a new challenge."
Gerald has essentially grown up with the industry, having been with Landscape Structures for more than 30 years. He’s a playground designer first and foremost, but also aids the design team in software use, safety standards, ADA standards, proper product use and overall design layout. Experience has taught him that understanding the timeless essentials of how kids play and look at things leads to designs that outlast the latest trends.
"Playgrounds always felt like a great stage to be imaginative and make up stories with friends."
As a child, Hallie loved the novelty and inspiration that came with discovering a new adventure or activity on the playground. As the Custom Design Manager for Landscape Structures, Hallie takes on each custom project as an adventure – each with its own personality and needs, where nothing stays put, and anything is possible. Overseeing the custom design process allows her to work collaboratively with her team to problem solve and feel like she’s learning and growing each day. She sees new projects as an opportunity to address unmet needs in the community, and to consistently push toward improvement.
"We're encouraged to tap into our inner child and craft playground experiences we would want to have."
Ian’s industrial design background and experience designing furniture, toys and games allows him to utilize all his interests to create landscapes of play and unique learning opportunities for kids of all ages. He appreciates that every project brings its own challenges and that no two playgrounds are the same. Ian’s design approach to playgrounds is to envision an experience that encourages children to use their imagination to its fullest and develop their senses and social skills. Ian’s end goal is to motivate kids to live their dreams and make the most of their futures.
"Landscape Structures is a fun factory!"
Jenny’s worked as a Playground Designer and 3D designer at Landscape Structures since 2003. Before that, she studied interior design. Before that, she used to swing as high as she could. She still does. She brings her child-like curiosity, positive spirit and enthusiasm to every new challenge and learning opportunity she finds. Jenny celebrates our family-oriented culture that allows her to have healthy priorities both at work and away from the office, while making the best playgrounds in the world.
"I love to understand the ability and limitations of how children move to make our 3D playground designs as real as possible!"
Before coming to Landscape Structures as a 3D Designer in May 2017, Joey redesigned gym spaces for Snap Fitness. Joey enjoys collaborating with fellow designers and challenging himself to improve his skills, learn new technology and impact the future of playground design. Since a child, Joey has been using his imagination on the playground to create unique interactions with friends. Now he uses it to help customers visualize their playground.
"I loved anything on the playground that could spin or swing; my sisters and I would take turns try to make each other sick."
Since joining Landscape Structures in October 2016, John has embraced the culture of learning and helping each other, which fosters creativity and growth. He likes challenging his creative-thinking skills by trying to fit as much fun as possible into a small play space. And John's favorite projects includes combining the Evos® and PlayBooster® playsystems to create a playscape that's both visually and physically engaging.
"I come to work everyday knowing that someone will be enjoying our designs."
Prior to joining the SkyWays® by Landscape Structures team, Jon worked as a mechanical engineer. The most interesting part of Jon’s job, designing fully custom shade designs, is also the most challenging. In fact, some of the projects he works on contain one-of-a-kind custom designs where the entire SkyWays team collaborates on them. Jon prides himself on always thinking about what clients will need in the future and sets the project up for future phases. As an Oklahoma native, Jon was most excited to work on the shade structure for Woodson Park in Oklahoma City.
"I love bringing dreams into reality."
Jonathan came to Landscape Structures in 2013, with 20 years of experience as an Art Director building brands, websites, and ads. As a concrete artist he’s always observing nature closely, looking for details to add realism and interest to the trees, rocks, and other pieces he sculpts and paints. Jonathan’s tremendous sense of ownership of the company and the work, as well as the responsibility of influencing countless children’s lives drives him to create more interesting and fun pieces.
"There is always something new to learn and endless playground designs to dream up."
Katherine’s landscape architecture background has given her valuable experience taking on the Playground Designer role at Landscape Structures. Katherine believes her true imagination and creativity was cultivated on the playground with friends as a young child. Katherine loves creating unimaginable playgrounds and making them a reality. Her favorite challenge is bringing the highest amount of play value to a project with a smaller site and budget. Katherine enjoys creating playgrounds that make a difference for communities around the world, and that is what inspires her to do her best.
"I always dreamed of becoming a playground designer and now get to make my ideas a reality as my job!"
Kelly’s early aspirations on becoming a playground designer is no longer a dream, but a reality. She loves getting to switch back into the playful mindset of a child to create a customer’s dreams and ideas into an epic finished project. Traveling to new playgrounds to scope out new and innovative ideas, helps to inspire her own designs. Her favorite projects have been the ones including unique climbing components providing kids with endless ways to explore and play.
"It’s like putting LEGO® parts together to create a custom play structure based on the client’s needs."
Kylie has the unique perspective of first designing splash pads for Aquatix® by Landscape Structures and then bringing that expertise to the playground design team. Kylie has always had a creative side that she used in custom framing and embroidery, and now she’s hoping that the unique play structures she designs spark that same creativity in kids. In fact, Kylie’s favorite project was a castle-themed playground that mimicked Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"I learn something new almost every single day."
Madi began her journey at Landscape Structures as an Industrial Artist painting GFRC structures in 2021, and it was such an amazing experience that she still gets excited when she learns about new GFRC product requests coming in. On the playground as a child, she was always in motion, either swinging or spinning. Today, she loves that things at LSI continue to change for the better, as her team is always looking to improve things and stay open to new ideas. She is grateful to be part of an environment in which she is constantly learning and is challenged to keep an open mind.
"We all strive to make each and every project the best it can be."
Mark worked with a prominent Twin Cities architecture firm and large-scale home builder before coming to Landscape Structures over 10 years ago. He enjoys the challenge of dealing with different design requirements. In his opinion, the way play spaces engage children is evolving, but the essentials of play remain the same. To address this, Mark focuses on open continuous play designs that are designed to be highly adaptable to needs in the future.
"What makes our culture unique is we are one big team from conception to production to installation."
Before transitioning into her role as production artist, Melissa worked on the paintline at Landscape Structures where she was first introduced to DigiFuse®. Using her manufacturing experience and knowledge of the manufacturing process flow in combination with her graphic design background, Melissa now designs one-of-a-kind, interactive artwork for playgrounds around the world. This full-color, photo-realistic artwork Melissa creates is fused onto metal using a proprietary process to create custom signage, panels or graphical play elements to complete any themed playground.
"Being employee-owned is a win-win for employees and the end customers."
Nikki’s been with Landscape Structures since 2006, but her previous experience as an interior designer still informs her approach. Her attention to proper spatial planning creates natural, safe pathways for children, while giving them the room to enjoy the play experience. She aims to focus on the needs of the child by incorporating multiple sensory experiences into every design she works on. One of her favorites was working on the Wizard of Oz playground for Epcot®’s 2013 Flower and Garden Festival.
"I enjoy exploring new technology to make our 3D files look as realistic and beautiful as possible."
Pete used to imagine and pretend play structures were castles, forts, and spaceships growing up. But now his focus is for Landscape Structures to be the industry leader in using 3D visualization to craft exciting and memorable experiences on playgrounds he enjoyed so much as a child. Pete feels like the company is one big team no matter what department someone is a part of and that’s what makes Landscape Structures such a great company to work for. Everyone is united by a single goal: to build incredible playground destinations.
"Every playground tells a story."
In his nearly 30 years as a concept designer, Gunnar has approached every project with a childlike fascination. He makes use of local landmarks, relevant icons or even fairy tales to spark a play narrative. His background includes sculpting animals for the Rainforest Cafe®, building parade floats for Minneapolis’ Holidazzle and Aquatennial festivals, and teaching high school theater groups how to build their props. Gunnar knows how to bring out our inner stories and make them larger than life by capturing every detail and maximizing fun in any playground.
"I use my creativity to bring life and joy to kids, parents, and people for a better future."
Reza’s outstanding portfolio of degrees of Landscape Design, Environmental Design Engineering and Landscape Architecture helps him to fit right in at SkyWays by Landscape Structures design team. Reza’s vast experience over the years includes designing parks, resorts, and public spaces in urban areas over seas as well as working state side with high-end commercial and residential landscape companies. Reza loves sharing and molding new ideas with coworkers to meet the challenge to come up with the next best creative design.
"Landscape Structures' culture is unique because people truly value working here - it isn't just a job, but a team effort!"
Scott's been a member of the design team at Landscape Structures since March 2019 where he came to us an architectural drafter. For every playground Scott designs, he challenges himself to work in as many play components to increase the play value and maximize the budget. Scott loves to hear when a playground that he designs gets installed because he knows kids in a neighborhood or school are benefiting from and enjoying his work of art. Scott's taken his childhood dream of becoming a paleontologist and includes the GFRC Fossil Dig on playground designs whenever the opportunity presents itself!
"At the playground, I always looked forward to meeting new friends."
Stefanie brought more than 11 years of experience in interior design, construction management and parenting to Landscape Structures when she started with us in 2011. Growing up in the country, there weren’t many neighbor kids for her to play with unless she went into town or the nearest playground. Valuing the playground as a social space influences the collaborative way Stefanie translates the ideas of local consultants and clients into places for children to make friends and let their imaginations run wild together.
"I love the values that Barb and Steve left us all with and I always think, "What would Barb think about this?""
Tara worked as a Landscape Structures playground designer for seven years before deciding to stay home with her growing family. In 2018, we were lucky enough for Tara to come back to the design team. Tara loves taking a customer’s wish list and turning it into a playground of their dreams, complete with spaces for kids to hang out and work on their social skills. Tara also has the great privilege of designing playgrounds for KABOOM!, where finds tremendous pride in creating a new playground space for each deserving community that brings family and friends together.
"Visiting playgrounds as a child gave me the freedom to imagine whatever I wanted!"
Taylor enjoys using 3D software to build and show clients amazing custom and innovative project designs. She thrives on collaborating with her fellow designers and on the challenge of meeting tight deadlines without sacrificing quality. Taylor constantly looks at where technology is heading to incorporate it to deliver the best customer experience. The bright and uplifting culture at Landscape Structures inspires her to work smarter, making her designs stand out against the competition.
"I want to turn every client’s dream into a fresh, unique reality."
With nearly three decades of playground design experience, Tom focuses on the vision and passion behind each project to bring it to life. He also makes sure every project our team creates meets strict safety standards and structural soundness, from original design sketches to final materials and construction. While this often means reigning in the designers’ ideas, his voice of reason is a key part to ensuring every playground’s a success.
"I love designing the overall iconic piece, as well as the small details that make something fun to interact with and delightful to use!"
Victoria’s childhood joy of building forts, play houses, and imaginative play spaces has perfectly prepared her to design amazing playgrounds. She loves to explore what makes a community unique and translating that into the universal language of play. Some of her favorite projects have been ones with smaller budgets, challenging herself to still create a personal, unique finished product that the exceeds the client's wildest dreams.
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