BOSTON – Sasaki, a global interdisciplinary design firm with offices in Boston, Massachusetts, and Shanghai, China, recently announced the opening of a dedicated office in Denver, Colorado to better serve clients throughout the Western United States and Canada.
“Sasaki has been working in the West since the 1960s — from creating the University of Colorado at Boulder Campus Master Plan to the Denver Game Plan for Parks and Recreation to projects for the University of Wyoming and the NineRails Creative District in Utah,” said Sasaki CEO and Principal James Miner. “This work has served to reinforce our commitment to growing our presence in the West, and we look forward to putting down roots in Denver.”
Sasaki’s new Denver office, located at 3120 Blake St., will be led by directors Anna Cawrse, ASLA, PLA, and Joshua Brooks, ASLA, PLA. Sasaki will add team members locally and from its national and international offices in line with project work in the region. In addition to fulfilling lead design and project management roles for existing and anticipated projects, Cawrse and Brooks will also oversee all regional business development efforts.
“Over the last few years, our work in this region has intensified with several high-impact projects such as the Strategic Development Plan for the Denver International Airport, projects for the River North Art District, public realm design for the future Denargo Market riverfront district, as well as a campus master plan for CU Boulder,” said Brooks. “We’re optimistic that our new regional foothold will accelerate Sasaki’s ability to collaborate with clients across the public and private sectors to create authentic, equitable, and inspiring places throughout the West.”
As an urban designer, planner and landscape architect, Brooks brings a passion for projects that have lasting, positive impact. He holds a master’s degree in city design and development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His multidisciplinary expertise includes district scale master planning, urban redevelopment, infrastructural and environmental urban systems, and the public realm, allowing him to bring human-centric urbanism to the mainstream.
With expertise that spans urban corridors and districts, public plazas, and parks and open space, Cawrse is internationally recognized for her ability to transition master planning of the public realm into realized space. A graduate of Colorado State University and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Cawrse has committed her practice to bringing nature into cities based on context-sensitive solutions.
Cawrse also champions the firm’s research into the impact of climate change on parks in the Intermountain West, and is currently working on a collaboration with the National Recreation and Park Association. This research, entitled Climate.Park.Change, will result in a toolkit for park agencies to begin adapting and building their parks for a changing environment.
“At Sasaki, we are constantly cultivating the tools, technical excellence, and in-house research to take our clients to new levels of insight and engagement,” said Cawrse. “These resources, combined with a truly integrated planning and design approach, allow us to reach more informed, more impactful, and more sustainable solutions for our clients and our communities. We believe this will be a significant differentiator for us in the region.”
Prior to joining Sasaki, Cawrse spent five years as a landscape architect in Denver. Her experience in Denver includes projects in the River North Art District, Sun Valley and along Interstate 70.
