Karen Kiest Landscape Architects
Management: Karen Kiest, owner
Specialty: Landscape architecture
Year founded: 2002
Current projects: Tongass Coast Aquarium, Ketchikan, Alaska; 37th Avenue South Park, Seattle
Karen Kiest is looking forward to the summer.
“We always have projects in all stages,” said the owner of Karen Kiest Landscape Architects. “None of them are built yet, but all are getting ready to get built this summer.”
Most projects are urban, such as site restoration work on Sound Transit segment 755, a 5.2-mile stretch of Link light-rail from Boeing Access Road to Highway 99 in SeaTac. The drawings will be completed this month.
Other projects include the Tongass Coast Aquarium in Ketchikan, Alaska, and a Seattle-area park.
Kiest is helping design a water feature for kids to play in at 37th Avenue South Park in Seattle’s NewHolly development. What form this will take hasn’t been decided, she said. An initial meeting to talk about design ideas was to have taken place April 14 with neighbors.
“The park is kind of like their front door,” Kiest said. Possible features could be pavilions, a play area or a P-patch for community gardening. “We’ll talk about what they like and don’t like.”
Design work on the Alaska aquarium began last year, and construction is set to begin in spring 2005. A dramatic hillside, eagle habitat and lots of salmon make the site unique from a landscape point of view. Kiest is working with the Chicago office of architect EHDD, the same firm that designed the Monterey Aquarium in California.
Karen Kiest Landscape Architects is expanding, and will move to a larger office May 1.