Weaving together infrastructure, natural systems, and new forms of public space.

Opened in 1978, SWA Houston is one of the firm’s largest studios, led by Managing Principal Kinder Baumgardner alongside a team of eight Principals with diverse areas of expertise. The office’s portfolio is based primarily in Texas, with an expanding body of work throughout the Southeastern U.S., and across Asia and Europe. Internationally recognized for transforming the City of Houston’s relationship with water and public space through projects like Buffalo Bayou Park, Buffalo Bend Park, and the Bayou Greenways study, the studio leads a broad range of projects across typologies. This includes a robust, leading-edge planning practice, decades of experience with master-planned communities, a rigorous eye toward artful, durable, and sustainable construction techniques, and particular expertise in ecological design.

Selected Projects

Located in the historic J.P. Morgan & Chase building in Downtown Houston, the studio has a vibrant office culture with weekly happy hours and presentations, opportunities for continued education and professional development, and a recently renovated office space with a green roof and outdoor meeting areas. Over several decades, the studio has been involved in countless open space projects across downtown—shaping the Houston that exists today while envisioning the city’s future.