We Create Immersive and Authentic Outdoor Experiences.

Ground Control’s creative expertise is reflected in a diverse range of high-profile, complex project types, from master plans to intimate gardens, and from the design of new public spaces to housing and mixed-use private developments. On each project, we strive to respond to its unique circumstances 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 a wide range of community interests. Our collaborations have led to successful plans for socially and environmentally 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 and the land they inhabit. Ground Control has designed restorative landscapes on post-industrial and brownfield sites in both urban and rural areas. We understand the complexity of ecological systems and the infrastructure requirements for successful restoration of 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 project's boundaries to understand the site's ecological and social value and to contribute to the broader 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 // LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

Will is a landscape architect, artist, 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 campuses, and private residences. His work has been recognized by the Urban Land Institute, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the American Institute of Architects, among others, and has been published in Landscape Architecture Magazine, Architectural Record, and numerous online publications.

Will’s work is driven by a deep belief in collaboration and consensus-building as catalysts for strong design. This approach fosters a shared sense of authorship and results in distinctive landscapes rooted in the cultural, ecological, and physical character of place. His inventiveness has produced meaningful, memorable spaces that balance clarity and craft while advancing ecologically intelligent environments around the world.

AYA MIYAKODA, PLA, ASLA // LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

Aya is a Landscape Architect and principal 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 city 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 her Masters of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University.

BRIAN BENNETT, PLA, ASLA // LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

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, he gained six years of work experience in Tokyo, Japan, which refined his appreciation for the value of public and semi-public spaces, broadening his perspective and his ability to craft design solutions that are responsive to the unique site and the communities to be served.

Successful project implementation and delivery are central to his work; attention to detail, construction technology, methodology, and quality control are essential throughout the design conceptualization, documentation, and construction observation phases. His experience as both a design consultant and a project manager for a public agency responsible for creating public parks, greenways, and urban spaces allows him to navigate the space between design consultant and owner, developing consensus and driving the design and delivery of valued public & private spaces.

PIERRE FAM // LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER

Pierre is a Landscape Architectural Designer at Ground Control. With over seven years of experience across residential and civic landscape firms in the Northeast, he has contributed to the design and documentation of high-end estates, civic spaces, and design-build projects. His work spans conceptual design, detailed planting and hardscape plans, 3D visualization, and coordinated construction documentation. Pierre consistently bridges the gap between bold design concepts and build-ready implementation.

Pierre’s approach is grounded in thoughtful communication, collaborative coordination, and a people-first design philosophy. Known for meticulous attention to detail and the ability to translate clients' aspirations into cohesive, site-responsive landscapes, he is adept at navigating project scopes, coordinating consultants and subcontractors, and supporting clients through zoning and permitting processes. His background in community leadership shapes his belief that landscapes are more than geometry and planting; they are places that support life, memory, and meaning. At Ground Control, Pierre serves as a dedicated steward of each client’s vision, ensuring every project balances artistry, function, and lasting value.

We are Landscape Architects and Authors 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 studio's mission is to create ecologically intelligent, 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.

At Ground Control, our design language is rooted in the belief that landscapes are a living framework, forces that organize movement, define experience, and connect people to place. We work in the space between structure and softness, where precision meets intuition. Paths bend rather than break, forms grow from context and proportion, and materials express both craft and restraint. Our landscapes often read as woven fields, tapestries of planting and paving, canvases of shadow and light, where circulation becomes fluid and boundless. Each gesture is intentional yet natural, translating ecological patterns and human rhythms into enduring, tactile geometries. The result is a language that feels both inevitable and alive, contemporary landscapes with the memory of something older, quieter, and deeply grounded…the episodic path less traveled

We Craft Ecologically Intelligent and Socially Purposeful Places.

We believe outdoor spaces can 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 a place's distinctive spatial characteristics and connections, local traditions and history, natural environment, and social and cultural frameworks.

We Build Resilient Urbanisms.

Ground Control is recognized for the 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 collaborating to shape how 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 with large, complex projects has enabled us to develop workflows to address complex design issues. These projects include the 350-acre master plan for the Philadelphia Cricket Club and 175-ace master plan for J.B. Hunt Corporate Headquarters.