About

Studio Kongsgaard is a design practice known for methodological innovation. Our work responds to the spatial and systemic challenge of urban and environmental transformation as cities and regions adapt to climate change. We partner with land trusts, landscape conservancies, cities, and governments on projects that mediate across scales from the bioregion to the site-level. Our work is holistic, charting a coherent arc from research to design to implementation.

Approach

The studio integrates transdisciplinary expertise with civic engagement to design unique and enduring spaces. Scientific understandings of how places change over time guide our work. As landscapes evolve beyond their historic limits, the question of if, when, and how to best intervene is critical to effective management. In this regard, the conservation and preservation of landscapes deemed culturally or ecologically significant is a notable aspect of our design practice.

Leadership

Helen Kongsgaard leads the practice and typically serves as Principal Investigator for transdisciplinary research projects. Trained in design and within the emergent field of climate adaptation, she frames design problems that contend with the dynamics of cities and landscapes. Helen brings her experience leading consultation with public agencies to each project that the studio engages. She holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from St. John’s College.

Services

Geospatial Analytics
Landscape Architecture
Conservation Strategy
Resource Stewardship
Scenario Planning
Urban Design

Contact

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KONGSGAARD / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

Projects

Practice

NAPA VALLEY CONSERVATION STRATEGY

Geospatial Analytics

Napa Valley, California (Google Earth, 2026)

Snell Valley, California (2022)

A model of agricultural preservation, the Napa Valley emerged over the past half-century as a world-renowned viticultural region. In 1968, the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve established agriculture and open space as the highest and best use of fertile land on the valley floor. As the first zoning ordinance of its kind in the United States, it protected the valley from development as neighboring regions rapidly urbanized. Many of its oak savannas, mixed conifer forests, freshwater wetlands, and tidal marshes were subsequently conserved. Today, lands held in trust, in conservation easements, or as public parklands contribute to the region’s ecological resilience at the landscape scale. They also present risks with the increasing prevalence of wildfire. In this context, this study supports the strategic acquisition and management of land in Napa County, California. In dialogue with local partners, it considers the efficacy of innovative landscape management practices from prescribed fire to carefully timed dry-season grazing that bring the region’s agrarian heritage into service of its ecological resilience.

Location: Napa County, California
Site Area: 96,000 acres

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