ABOUT US

The office of South Beck & Baird was formed in 2018 from the merger of Beck & Baird, founded in 1981, and South Landscape Architecture, founded in 1987, with the goal to provide comprehensive design services throughout Idaho and the intermountain northwest. We use our wide range of experience to provide high quality landscape architecture, urban planning and land development services to meet the complex challenges of our clients. Our scope of services ranges from brief consultations to comprehensive planning and design commissions. Harnessing over 35 years of experience, our team brings a diverse set of specialized skills and knowledge along with a continuing enthusiasm to ensure successful, sustainable project development.

South Beck & Baird has a longstanding track record of successful projects and repeat customers. John and Jim along with our staff have worked on over 2,000 projects across every field of Landscape Architecture with design contracts of up to $1.5 million; planning projects with budgets exceeding $30 million; and administering construction projects exceeding 9 million dollars:

  • Over 28 Idaho State Park projects—including 4 in 2018 alone—spanning half of the entire State Park system;
  • 74 Idaho Department of Public Works projects, 3 of which were conducted between 2017 and 2018;
  • Working with St. Luke’s Medical Center for 30 years on over 10 campuses statewide;
  • Developing the original Hewlett Packard campus master plan with 20+ campus projects.

Our history and portfolio have led us to foster strong relationships throughout the community across the public and private sectors. South Beck & Baird strives to focus on the individual needs and goals of each client and develop design solutions that best accomplish the objectives of each client and project. This has resulted in a regular inflow of new projects from returning customers over the years, and for this we are most proud.

Within the wide spectrum of services we offer, our firm, via our team of expert staff, has come to specialize in the following services:

  • Land Use Planning and Development
  • Property Entitlement Acquisition
  • Expert Witness Casework and Consultation in Property Condemnation Cases (aka Eminent Domain)
  • Planning and Design of:
    • Recreational Facilities
    • Healthcare Campuses and Clinics
    • K-12 and University Campuses
    • Cemeteries
    • Streetscapes, Transportation Systems, and Green Streets

    In addition to these specialties, we also have extensive experience in:

    • Military Base and Housing Planning
    • Permit Preparation and Processing
    • Non-Motorized and Motorized Trail Planning
    • Site Inventory and Analysis
    • Public and Stakeholder Facilitation
    • Graphic Communication and Courtroom Exhibits
    • Urban and Community Planning
    • Landscape Restoration and Management
    • Sustainable Design including LEEDS
    • Contractual Documentation and Specifications
    • Site Inspections
    • Visual Assessment and Simulation
    • Wetland Evaluation, Restoration, and Design
    • Community involvement and facilitation of Public Hearings and Neighborhood Meetings
    • 3D Renderings, Animation, and Project Modeling
    • Project Scoping and Feasibility Studies
    • Cost Estimating/Value
      • Engineering

    South Beck & Baird has been a key contributor to many landmark projects in Idaho and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Following are a few of our exemplary landscape architectural and planning projects:

    • Hewlett Packard Boise Campus Original Master Plan and among 50 HP projects from 1981 through 1995
    • Micron Boise Campus Master Plan & Initial Campus Buildout
    • St. Luke’s Hospital Boise and Meridian Campuses and 10 additional hospital campuses in Idaho from 1981 to today
    • Land Development Projects for commercial properties as well as mixed-use and residential communities (single and multi-family) such as Touchmark & Meadow Lake Village (155 acres), Black Canyon Planned Community (3,200 acres; unbuilt), Laguna Point Subdivision, Jump Creek Subdivision, Wycliff Estates and Gateway Subdivision, Herons Edge Apartments, River Run Subdivision, and Shadow Valley Planned Community.
    • Over 50 projects with the Idaho Department of Recreation including Eagle Island State Park (a $30 million dollar project) as well as 5 currently active projects.
    • Over 70 projects with the Idaho Department of Public Works including the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery ($9 mil) as well as 5 currently active projects.

    South Beck and Baird has completed over 120 park and recreation projects including trails, city parks, state parks, and campgrounds. Our largest and most comprehensive project was Eagle Island State Park where we completed a 34-million-dollar master plan that envisioned creating 140+ acres of lakes which would generate $15 million dollars in revenue from gravel excavation and sales.