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OvS | Landscape Architecture Logo
Studiovicidesign2023-09-01T02:06:11-05:00
  • Studio

  • Firm Leadership

  • Founders

  • Studio

Our story draws from a legacy of venerable horticultural knowledge and design innovation. Inspired by the rich layering found in meadow communities we challenge conventional notions of what makes a landscape beautiful. Simultaneously, we recognize the importance of providing structure to designed landscapes thus complementing the horticultural richness with meticulously crafted spaces.

Our work celebrates the natural environment and brings that world closer to people. Through research, collaboration, and artistry, we express communal values through landscape. In turn, our landscapes express the communities they serve: dynamic, layered, and ever-evolving.

We believe that designed landscapes are the confluence of natural, cultural, and social systems. With every project, we embrace the opportunity to challenge ourselves and our assumptions. Together we share a passion for creating remarkable landscapes that are of their place, of our time, and transform the built into the living.

  • Firm Leadership

Eric D. Groft, FASLA

Eric D. Groft, FASLA

CEO and Director

Eric Groft, CEO and Director of OEHME, VAN SWEDEN | OvS, is renowned for his diversity in residential, commercial, and institutional work. He prides himself on a sense of regionalism, attention to the vernacular, and his work with cultural landscapes.

Eric’s commissions include landscape master planning and design efforts for residential gardens throughout the east end of Long Island and the northeastern region of the United States. His commercial body of work features the American Museum and Gardens in Bath, UK, the Federal Reserve Campus in Washington, DC, as well as the 2020 renovation of the White House Rose Garden. Eric has a passion for horticulture and is dedicated to shepherding the evolution of OvS’ New American Garden Style. He is widely recognized as an industry leader in ecological sensitivity, environmental/wetland restoration, and shoreline stabilization/revetment. He frequently lectures on these topics and the work of OvS.

Group Image

Group Image

Sara Downing, ASLA

Sara Downing, ASLA

Principal

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Sara’s thoughtful design approach has influenced an extensive portfolio of projects over the last decade at OvS, from multi-use developments and national memorials to botanical gardens, historic restorations, and large-scale residential projects.

Her use of artistry, applied science, and articulation of site history has resulted in timeless and resilient outdoor spaces. Every new project is an opportunity to learn and collaborate, and she attributes the success of each design effort to the staff with whom she works in studio each day: those who contribute research, questions, and solutions to enrich the landscapes around us.

Sara received a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and French from Bucknell University.

Stacilyn Feldman, ASLA

Stacilyn Feldman, ASLA

Principal

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Stacilyn’s forward thinking, sustainable design and active on-site experience in a wide variety of projects has resulted in a refined approach to land stewardship that will guide OvS into the next era. She has designed, managed, and shepherded over a decade’s worth of the firm’s landmark projects including green roofs, urban development, botanic gardens, and residential estates, further enhancing the firm’s portfolio in the Washington, DC region, the Chicago area and, most recently, establishing more of the firm’s work in the New York metropolitan area.

Stacilyn holds a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture from The Pennsylvania State University.

Lili Herrera, ASLA

Lili Herrera, ASLA

Principal

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Lili, a member of the OvS team since 2011, has worked extensively on high-end residential commissions in the New York area as well as many horticulturally focused historic landscapes and public gardens throughout the world. Her hands-on approach, refined design sensibility, and years of commune with and observation of the natural world gives her a unique perspective on design that celebrates the New American Garden tradition.

Lilí earned a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Master in Professional Studies in Horticulture from Cornell University. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Smith College in Northampton, MA.

Robert Johnson, ASLA

Robert Johnson, ASLA

Principal

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Robert’s 10-year tenure with the firm reflects a refined approach that has resulted in a diverse portfolio, including experience in master planning, commercial, and high-end residential design. Robert manages much of the firm’s work on the eastern seaboard, including estates in New England, on Long Island’s north shore and east end, and on Maryland’s eastern shore. He has a passion for detail, planting design, and art appreciation.

Robert earned a Master of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and French from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME.

Eva Lin, CPA

Eva Lin, CPA

Principal

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Eva has generated successful bottom-line impact through targeted financial and accounting initiatives that align with emergent business strategies. She is instrumental in the planning, establishing, and directing of the firm’s day-to-day financial operations, consistently eliminating risk and reducing cost. In a leadership role, Eva trains and mentors cross-functional teams to execute business-critical tasks, understand and utilize technological solutions, and improve process efficiency and performance.

Eva received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Minor in Business Administration from the University of Maryland. She is a licensed CPA.

Justin Maglione

Justin Maglione

Principal

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Justin has helped guide the firms growth, working in a communications and operational role, since 2010. His efforts to grow the firm’s brand have given OvS an expanded reach and helped further establish the firm as an eminent member of the design industry. He helps craft and implement operational policies and guidelines, oversees communications, and works closely with the executive leadership team to strategize new and enhance existing day-to-day operations.

Justin received a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA.

Sheila A. Brady, FASLA

Sheila A. Brady, FASLA

Director Emeritus

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Sheila’s design achievements include many of the firm’s distinguished projects. Recent work includes the Native Plant Garden and the Azalea Garden at New York Botanical Garden.

Lisa E. Delplace, FASLA

Lisa E. Delplace, FASLA

Director Emeritus

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Lisa’s extensive knowledge of ecological processes and her deep commitment to their artistic execution result in a strong sculptural relationship between architecture and landscape.

  • Founders

OvS

OvS

OvS

OvS

OvS

OvS

Wolfgang Oehme and James van Sweden launched their partnership in 1975 in the basement of Jim van Sweden’s Georgetown row house.

Their collaboration has been credited with founding the ‘New American Garden’ style of landscape architecture. The style is characterized by large swaths of grasses and layered masses of perennials that boldly celebrate the ephemeral through mystery, intrigue, and discovery. Jim van Sweden said the New American Garden is “Vigorous and audacious…vividly blending the natural and the cultivated.”

Their design credits include the planting along Pennsylvania Avenue from the U.S. Treasury to the National Gallery in Washington, DC; the Virginia Avenue Gardens of the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC; the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC; the Gardens of the Great Basin at the Chicago Botanic Garden; as well as numerous residential gardens in the United States and abroad.

Wolfgang Oehme passed away in December 2011 and Jim van Sweden passed away in September 2013.

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