Category Archives: news

LADAC Cal Poly Winter 2023

Last week Courtney visited Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, her alma mater, as part of her involvement in the Landscape Architecture Department Advisory Council (LADAC).  This group was formed in 2001, and Courtney has been an active member for the past ten years.

Each academic quarter, members of this group visit campus to spend the day observing and participating in studios and providing critiques of student work.  They give the students of Cal Poly a unique opportunity to interface directly with active members of the landscape architectural profession; and provide valuable mentorship and training in the form of resume/portfolio development and interview skills.  Off campus, LADAC provides students with opportunities for shadowships and internships in addition to scholarships.

SB Beer Garden 2023

On Saturday we celebrated our TEN YEARS in business at the SB Botanic Garden‘s annual Beer Garden event.  It was a beautiful day at the garden – with a full creek, California poppies in full bloom and incredible food, drinks and music throughout the garden.  If you are ever in Santa Barbara for this event, it’s not to be missed!

Courtney, Jianhua, Christina, Janet, Arturo

Celebrating the Women of CJM::LA

This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating all of the women of CJM::LA – both past and present. In the past ten years, we’ve had the privilege to work alongside such incredible team members – both within our design studio and within our expanded community of vendors, suppliers, collaborators, contractors and clients.
As a certified woman-owned small business, we are proud to have women leading both our ownership and operations, bringing insight and creativity to our growing team.

COURTNEY JANE MILLER

As the principal landscape architect and owner of CJM::LA, Courtney has led our creative team for ten years.  She combines the the thoughtfulness of a technical mind with the creativity of an artistic one, and loves to dig into the history the properties she designs as well as push the boundary of the expected.  Along with Nicole Horn, Courtney leads the creative vision for CJM::LA.

NICOLE HORN

Nicole joined CJM::LA in 2016, and has brought expertise in urban planning, resource management and landscape architectural design to the CJM::LA team.  As associate principal and director of operations, she promotes transparency and collaboration across all aspects of our work.  Nicole pushes herself and others to take risks, innovate and surpass conventional design roles and traditions.

JANET SHOTWELL

Janet joined CJM::LA 2014 as office manager and bookeeper.  She loves to make connections within our community while also keeping all aspects of our studio running smoothly.  Janet holds degrees in Historic Preservation and Architectural Technology, and brings this knowledge base to her work at CJM::LA.  She is the glue that holds us together!

AIKO STRASSER

Aiko recently joined CJM::LA as a project manager, and brings experience in mixed-use, hospitality and institutional projects to her role as part of the production team.  She believes in a whole-systems approach to design with a focus on social, economic and environmental equity.

Happy New Year 2023!

Jianhua, Janet, Courtney, Arturo, Aiko, Nicole, Cameron

Sending peace and abundance for 2023.  Happy New Year from our family to yours!

 

Santa Barbara Beautiful Awards 2022

We are thrilled to announce that our team was recognized by the Santa Barbara Beautiful organization for three outstanding properties at the 2022 Santa Barbara Shines! awards ceremony.

UNITY OF SANTA BARBARA | 2022 Commercial Property Award


This project transformed an existing lawn at the front of a historic mid-century modern church building into an inviting courtyard and entry garden.  Designated as a Structure of Merit by the City of Santa Barbara Historic Landmarks Commission, the existing building was constructed in 1958 in the mid-century modern style.  Our team designed the courtyard and gardens to complement the architectural design of the building and pay homage to the mid-century era, while addressing the functional needs of the Unity organization.

MAYEE PLAZA | 2022 Multi-Family Residence Award


This mixed-use infill housing project in the downtown core of Santa Barbara transformed an existing asphalt parking lot into a new multi-story development including 26 apartments and ground-floor commercial office space.  Our team designed a community courtyard in the space between the new building and the existing historic Louisa Ygnacio House to accommodate residents of the new apartments as well as employees and guests of to the commercial offices on the ground floor.  The decomposed granite, native California plants and Santa Barbara sandstone elements were selected to compliment the design language of the nearby Santa Barbara Historical Museum.

CABRILLO BALL PARK | 2022 Public Open Space Award

Together with the City of Santa Barbara Parks & Recreation Department, the CJM::LA team renovated an existing ball field on the Santa Barbara waterfront to address improved community programming, stormwater management and circulation.  A circuit walking trail with exercise equipment, better lighting and biofiltration plantings provide a sense of enclosure while maintaining important sight lines for public safety.

AIASB ARCHITECTOURS 2022 | FEATURING NEW WORK BY CJM::LA

The ArchitecTours is back in person this year, and we are excited to have two of our recent projects featured on the tour!  Hosted by the AIASB, the theme of this year’s tour is “Celebrate Santa Barbara.”

Mayee Plaza

Cabrillo Commercial Complex

From the AIASB:  The projects on the tour this year include several unique residences; a contemporary cliffside home on The Mesa, a renovated modern farmhouse in Downtown Santa Barbara and two homes in Montecito that share a strong relationship with their natural surroundings. Also, on the tour are several historic building renovations including the former Hollister Family Office building and adobe.  Additionally, tour goers will also have the chance to visit two new multi-family housing buildings downtown that offer a range of unit sizes and amenities.

The tour will be held Saturday October 1st from 10am – 4pm and will culminate with a festive party.

To purchase tickets, click here.

We hope to see you there!

Happy New Year 2022!

Santa Barbara Residence | Santa Barbara, CA | Completed 2021

As we kick off the new year, the CJM::LA team is looking forward to focusing on our collective creative practice and developing deeper relationships with our many collaborators.  We are grateful for the support of our clients and the design community!

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Direct Relief Honored with Merit Award at the SOCAL ASLA Quality of Life Awards

We are honored to announce that our Direct Relief Headquarters project has been recognized by the Southern California Chapter of the ASLA with a Merit Award in the General Design category at the 2021 Quality of Life Awards!  This year’s theme, “growing importance of the outdoors” celebrates outdoor space as a crucial part of our existence.

A collaboration with DMHA, the design of this new campus brought forward the concept of healing as a reference to our client’s mission as well as the ecological context of the site.

Led by Nicole Horn, this project has been recognized by multiple architectural, engineering and green building organizations for it’s exemplary design.  Congratulations Nicole!

Celebrating Habitat for Humanity

This Saturday, May 22 Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County is honoring individuals and organizations that provided exemplary support and partnership over the past 20 years at their Habitat Homecoming Virtual Gala.  We are proud to be one of those partners, having helped design and build both the 12-unit Canon Perdido Affordable Homes project in Santa Barbara in 2014, as well as the 3-unit Sawyer Avenue Affordable Homes project in Carpinteria in 2019.  Both projects were realized in collaboration with DMHA Architecture.

Sawyer Avenue Affordable Homes, rendering by Ryan Mills | DMHA Architecture

At CJM::LA, we believe strongly in the need for equitable housing policies and affordable housing for all.  We are honored to partner with such an incredible organization to help families build and improve a place to call home.  The Canon Perdido Homes project accommodates housing for 44 people and 22 children, and the Sawyer Avenue Homes project accommodates housing for 14 people and 8 children.

Click here to purchase gala tickets, or here to make a donation.

WLAM 2021 | Ecological Wellness

April is World Landscape Architecture Month, and CJM::LA is celebrating by highlighting a few recent projects that demonstrate our focus on wellness.  As the third in a three-part post, this week we’re highlighting recent projects that promote ecological wellness.

Two projects that demonstrate our focus on ECOLOGICAL WELLNESS include: the restoration of Alamo Pintado Creek as part of our Mattei’s Tavern project (currently in construction) and various seating and display features for the Ventura Botanic Gardens. The Ventura Botanic Gardens is a non-profit established in 2005 with a mission to “create and maintain public gardens for the preservation, education, cultural contribution & enhancement of the entire community.” The 100+ acre garden will exhibit and conserve plants from Earth’s five Mediterranean climate zones, which are all adapted to our local coastal region. The gardens use recycled water for irrigation and provide habitat for native animals, insects and birds.

Alamo Pintado Creek is a riparian corridor immediately west of the new Inn at Mattei’s Tavern. Our design team, along with True Nature and Watershed Environmental, developed a planting and irrigation plan to restore 5,000 s.f. of riparian woodland with indigenous species from local seed stock. Additionally, we’re planting over 25,000 s.f. of native shrubs and 50+ native trees within 50′ of the creek bank. The restoration area also includes a multi-modal public trail (for bikes, pedestrians and horses) and stormwater biofiltration basin.

WLAM 2021 | Physical Wellness

April is World Landscape Architecture Month, and CJM::LA is celebrating by highlighting a few recent projects that demonstrate our focus on wellness.  As the second in a three-part post, this week we’re highlighting recent projects that promote physical wellness.

Two projects that demonstrate our focus on PHYSICAL WELLNESS include: the Ocean Meadows residences, a collaboration with DesignARC (currently in the permit process); and the renovation of Cabrillo Ball Park (completed in 2018). Both designs include outdoor recreation amenities for individual and group activities. Upon completion, Ocean Meadows will provide pedestrian and bike trail connections to the North Campus Open Space, a restored and preserved coastal open space for public access and passive recreation. It will also feature natural play areas for children and a shared residential street. Cabrillo Ball Park was an existing public ball field to which CJM::LA, together with the City of Santa Barbara Parks & Recreation Department, added a circuit walking trail with exercise equipment, better lighting and biofiltration plantings to provide a sense of enclosure while maintaining important sight lines for public safety.