Confluence, a Des Moines, Iowa-based landscape architecture, urban design and planning firm, has expanded into the Chicago market as Wolff Landscape Architecture will become the newest Confluence office. Craig Soncrant and Matt Strange will lead the Confluence Chicago office as principals. Founder Ted Wolff will provide continuity and remain involved in existing and future projects.
With a growing network of offices throughout the Midwest—other offices include Minneapolis, Kansas City, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Cedar Rapids and Fargo—Confluence strives to be known as a design-forward firm that creatively engages and collaborates with clients and a wide array of stakeholders in the design and planning process.
“Whether we are crafting a university campus master plan, enhancing a community’s riverfront, or implementing an urban mixed-use development, we actively involve our clients and our design team members in our creative process,” said Chris Della Vedova, president and CEO of Confluence. “Each project needs to reflect the client’s unique wants and needs, and our collaborative process results in an authentic sense of place.”
Wolff Landscape Architecture has an impressive portfolio of projects in the Chicago area. The firm finalized construction documentation, creating a phase 1 plan for Southbank Park, part of Lendlease’s Southbank development along the South Branch of the Chicago River; they were the landscape architect of record, and will be the designers for the next phase of the park. The firm was also tapped by developers Riverside Investment & Development and Convexity Properties to design the park/plaza at the new BMO Tower going up on the site adjacent to Union Station.
“We reviewed the Chicago market for several years looking for the right strategic opportunity—one that was consistent with who we are at Confluence and the way we work,” said Wm. Christopher Cline, a senior vice president with Confluence leading the firm’s marketing efforts. “As we reviewed Wolff Landscape Architecture’s portfolio of work and client relationships, it became clear our priorities of quality design, creative collaboration and client-focus were in total alignment. We regularly work with a variety of allied professionals in the architecture and engineering fields, and we welcome the opportunity to provide even more design and planning services in the future throughout the Chicago market and beyond.”
