4. ABOUT SWA
ON THE BOARDS
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
RECENTLY BUILT
STUDENTS + FELLOWSHIPS
LIFE @SWA
5. 1957
The parent firm of SWA Group was
Sasaki, Walker and Associates (SWA),
established in 1957 in Watertown,
Massachusetts by Hideo Sasaki and
Peter Walker.
Sasaki was chairman of the landscape
architecture department of Harvard
University’s Graduate School of Design
and Walker was one of his students
1959
In 1959, Walker opened a regional office
of Sasaki, Walker and Associates in San
Francisco.
6. 1973
In 1973 SWA became SWA Group, and
became one of the first companies on
the West Coast to be owned by an
Employee Stock Ownership Plan
(ESOP)—a vehicle that has resulted in
the company becoming 100% employee-
owned.
1980’s
SWA expanded from a West Coast firm
in the 1960s and 70s to a fully national
and international firm by the 1980s and
90s, with offices located across the
United States (and in China in the 2000s
7. 1990-2000
Our practice and philosophy have
evolved from a firm of one or two lead
principals into a collaborative,
participatory group practice involving
many seasoned and talented principals
and associates—several of whom are
recognized as among the most talented
designers and planners in the profession.
The firm’s projects have received over
600 awards, and in 2005 SWA received
the Landscape Architecture Firm Award,
as designated by the American Society
of Landscape Architects.
8.
9. ABOUT SWA
ON THE BOARDS
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
RECENTLY BUILT
STUDENTS + FELLOWSHIPS
LIFE @SWA
