We Create Immersive and Authentic Outdoor Space.

Ground Control’s creative expertise is reflected in a diverse range of high-profile, complex project types, from the master plans to intimate gardens; the design of new public spaces to housing and mixed-use private developments. On each project, we strive to respond to the unique circumstances of each project and craft landscapes of lasting distinction.

We Transform Moments into Memories.

Our landscapes invite serendipitous encounters, generate community, and promote high levels of engagement. Our placemaking and open space strategies in complex settings serve wide-ranging community interests. Our collaborations have resulted in successful plans for socially and ecologically purposeful places. Our team thrives on listening carefully to stakeholders and thinking critically through an inclusive design process which yields culturally richer projects.

We Resuscitate Ecologies.

Our design process relies on listening to our clients as well as the land which they inhabit. Ground Control has designed restorative landscapes on post-industrial and brownfield sites in urban areas and rural natural areas. We understand the complexity of ecological systems and the infrastructural requirements to successfully restore natural systems. Recent work includes a restoration of a 5-acre urban meadow at Pennovation Works* and the Master Plan for the Mill River Park and Greenway*, which won a Design Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2015 and the Great Public Spaces Award by the APA in 2018.

We Draw Outside the Lines.

Our most successful projects positively impact the communities and spaces that surround them. We believe landscape plays a critical role in shaping a positive experience of place and that a strong sense of place helps enhance everyday experience, healthy communities, and quality of life, which are at the heart of a livable city. We often look beyond the edges of the project to understand the ecological and social value of the site and often bring value to the larger context.

Ground Control is a registered small business in the State of Pennsylvania. We are currently licensed to practice landscape architecture in AR, DE, MO, NC, NY, PA, VA.

Meet Ground Control.

WILL BELCHER, PLA, ASLA

Will is a Landscape Architect and the founding principal of Ground Control. Over the course of his career, he has led the design and construction of award winning urban parks, corporate headquarters, academic landscapes, and mixed-use projects throughout the world. Will has received recognition for his work by the Urban Land Institute, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the American Institute of Architects. Will’s work has been published in Landscape Architecture Magazine, Architectural Record, and a variety of online publications.

Will’s passion and consensus-building approach to design fosters collaboration, creating distinctive landscapes that are firmly rooted in a sense of place. His inventiveness has yielded ecologically intelligent and socially purposeful places throughout the world.

AYA MIYAKODA, PLA, ASLA

Aya is a Landscape Architect and Partner at Ground Control. Registered in both North Carolina and Japan, she brings a unique design perspective shaped from over 20 years of crafting memorable landscapes around the world.

Born and raised in Tokyo, she was drawn to urban design and landscape architecture by observing the complexity of the urban environment in Tokyo and the contrasting countryside of Japan. Her extensive experience living and working in both the US and Japan has shaped her broad perspective toward living and material systems. Aya received her Bachelor of Environmental Design & Architecture from Kobe Design University, and Masters of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University.

BRIAN BENNETT, PLA, ASLA

Brian is a Landscape Architect at Ground Control. Over the course of his career, he has led the conceptualization, design, and implementation of high-quality public and private projects in the United States and around the world. A native Charlottean, his six-years’ work experience in Tokyo, Japan, refined his appreciation for the value of public and semi-public spaces, broadening his perspective and ability to help craft design solutions which are responsive to the unique site and communities to be served.

Successful project implementation and delivery is central to his work, therefore attention to detail, construction technology and methodology, and quality control is essential to his approach - from design conceptualization to documentation and construction observation. His experience as both a design consultant and project manager for a public agency responsible for managing the creation of public parks, greenways, and urban spaces allows him to help navigate the realm between design consultant and owner to develop consensus and drive the design and delivery of valued public & private spaces.

ALLISON CHAN, ASLA

Allison is a Landscape Designer at Ground Control. Growing up in South Carolina and spending recent years in the New England area helped her cultivate her appreciation for both the natural landscape and urban public spaces. These experiences broadened her perspective in understanding the unique opportunities that different landscapes provide to a project.

Her experience as a designer prior to Ground Control involved projects throughout the United States and ranged in project types from smaller scaled residential projects to larger urban and institutional master planning. Her recent work includes being a key collaborator to projects such as the Windgate Galleries at the University of Arkansas, and the Park at Justison Landing.

We are Landscape Architects and Makers of Place.

Ground Control is a landscape architecture, urban design, and placemaking practice based in Bucks County, PA and Charlotte, NC. Founded by Will Belcher, the mission of the studio is to create ecologically intelligent and socially purposeful spaces firmly rooted in a sense of place. We create cohesive spaces integrating landscape, infrastructure, ecology, and architecture. Our projects are realized through a creative, collaborative approach, working closely with our clients, communities, architects, planners, engineers, ecologists and artists.

We Craft Ecologically Intelligent and Socially Purposeful Places.

We believe outdoor spaces have the power to improve everyday life. The creation of effortlessly comfortable outdoor space is seminal to our practice. Our spaces are immersive, tactile and durable. We value multi-functional, flexible and environmentally sensitive design solutions. Our designed places are catalysts for human interaction and community. In all of our work, we carefully assess the distinguishing spatial characteristics and connections of a place, local traditions and history, the natural environment, and social and cultural frameworks.

We Build Resilient Urbanisms.

Ground Control is recognized for design of distinguished, iconic urban spaces including the recently completed Wm. Mulherins Garden and Cummins Green* in Indianapolis. We love cities. We celebrate their complexities, contradictions, and constraints. We believe in their continued evolution and enjoy collaboratively shaping the way cities look and function. We enjoy working with communities to make their places extraordinary.

We Embrace Complexity.

Complexity encourages innovation. Our design process relies on technology to do the heavy lifting which allows us to focus on design. Our experience on large complicated projects has allowed us to develop workflows to solve complex design issues. These projects include the 350 acre masterplan for the Philadelphia Cricket Club and The Hills at Vallco*, a 50-acre mixed use town center with a 30-acre community park above, which will be the world’s largest green roof upon completion.