Ken Saiki Design | Landscape Architects

Ken Saiki Design worked with Strang architects on the design of a new headquarters for Culver Franchising Systems, Inc. in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.  The landscape was designed to complement the prairie style building and preserve and integrate with the rural setting.  Native prairie provides the backdrop for broad sweeps of perennials along the entry drive.  Closer to the building, display gardens and a waterfall and pond are enjoyed through expansive windows or along paver walkways.  A terraced rear patio overlooks the Wisconsin River.  A small woodlot was preserved along with an old windmill and silo, enhancing the distinct but unified rural charm that permeates the site.  

The landscape also facilitates low-impact storm water management.  Roof water is discharged directly into the landscape without the aid of gutters and downspouts; two small ponds collect and filter runoff from the paved surfaces.  Ken Saiki Design was responsible for site planting design and materials selection.

Ken Saiki Design provided landscape architectural services including design and construction documents for an expansion of Findorff’s Headquarters, an iconic building sited on the shore of Monona Bay.  As part of the larger project, the design team worked from concept through construction documents for a modest sized extensive green roof over underground parking and storage.

The green roof serves as a physical connection between the employee break room and the adjacent grassy meadow.  The green roof transitions from a formal eating patio to an informal array of pavers, connected to allow foot traffic onto the green roof.  Growing media blends were designed specifically to address the minimal soil depths and load bearing capacity.  A palette of predominantly native plants was chosen to provide color, structure, and year-round interest for those using the patio on breaks as well as those whose office windows look down on the green roof.  Plants like veronica, columbine, allium, and phlox provided the colorful accent and flowering display; grasses and sedums formed the background planting structure.

Located in a unique part of downtown Madison, Seven27 is a high-end development featuring upscale apartments and amenities that support a vibrant urban lifestyle.  The site is bounded by a commuter bicycle path corridor, a bucolic city park and the historic Tobacco Lofts apartments.  The building’s shape and orientation accentuate views through the park to Monona Bay and forms a generous private courtyard space for residents and their guests to gather.  

The Seven27 central courtyard is an entertainer’s dream - providing a fire pit, built-in grills with adjacent counter tops and plenty of formal and informal seating.  The elevated wood deck was designed as an ideal spot for sunbathing or evening gatherings.  Challenged by a highly urban site, the courtyard is constructed above the building’s parking structure but it seamlessly melds the built environment with the landscape beyond.

The chaise lounge chairs aren’t the only green on site!  Rain gardens are integrated into the site’s landscape to manage stormwater and provide a showy palette of native plantings that wrap around the building.  Permeable pavers were utilized at the building’s front entry and in portions of the parking area.

Ken Saiki Design provided comprehensive landscape architecture and civil engineering services and worked closely with developers at Urban Land Interests and architects at Valerio Dewalt Train Associates.

In a former industrial district, Tobacco Row and Tobacco Row II stand out as excellent examples of infill development and adaptive reuse.  Tobacco Row transformed aging railroad warehouses into owner occupied housing units.  Ken Saiki Design developed an efficient site plan that enhances the spatial qualities between the existing buildings and creates habitable open spaces.  Site design introduced simple but effective plantings, treated storm water, and provided recreation and respite for the urban residents. Tobacco Row II extends the spatial framework of the original redevelopment with office uses that take advantage of lake views and street frontage.    

-Design Team:  Engberg Anderson, architecture; Ken Saiki Design, landscape architecture and civil engineering

-Client:  Urban Land Investments

The Cannery Square redevelopment is an urban infill, multi-use renovation of a former industrial site.  New housing options and small scale retail take advantage of this ideal location in downtown Sun Prairie.  Cannery Square is a postage stamp urban open space that is the center of the redevelopment.  This newly created civic space is designed in the tradition of the town square, bounded by city hall, retail shops and upper floor housing and office uses.  A simple fountain provides the visual focal point while lawn and plantings provide a green oasis in the heart of the city. 

-Client:  City of Sun Prairie