For over twenty years we have been dedicated to forming artful solutions out of complex problems in planning, urban design, and landscape architecture. Using a holistic lens combined with meticulous focus, we bring curiosity and expertise to create inviting outdoor spaces that stand the test of time. Collaboration is an essential part of the way we work, whether as the prime consultant, lead for site design, or supporting team member.

Site master plans, urban streetscapes, greenways, courtyards, roadways and parking respond to the specific challenges of each project with plans that are highly functional, sustainable, and engaging. Contextual designs grow out of the natural and cultural systems already in place to support community life and environmental regeneration.

TOPIO Land Design, LLC is certified as a City of Austin WBE and State of Texas HUB.

DESIGN SERVICES OFFERED

Parks, Greenways & Trails

Memorials & Memorial Gardens

Roadways & Parking

Site Grading Plans & Accessibility Routes

Outdoor Amphitheaters

Sports Fields & Courts

Maps & Wayfinding

Site Lighting

Public Art Advisement

LICENSES & CERTIFICATIONS

Registered landscape architect (Joan Hyde) in Texas #1740

City of Austin Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE)

State of Texas Historically Underutilized Business (HUB)

AutoCAD Civil Certificate (Joan Hyde), Austin Community College

CIVIC SERVICE

Austin Design Commission, J. Hyde commissioner 2000 - 2009, vice chair 2007 - 2009

Project Review team for City Hall Plaza, Republic Square, Pfluger Bridge extension

Design Commission representative to Community Advisory Group for Pfluger Bridge extension, Republic Square, and Urban Waterfront at Cesar Chavez St.

Urban Open Space Committee, chair

Urban Open Space monograph, author

“Plazas & Open Spaces,” Chapter 7 of Downtown Austin Design Guidelines, co-author

RECOGNITION

St. Stephen’s Campus Greenway, Austin, TX, Texas ASLA Merit Award in Design

St. Stephen’s Tennis Center, Austin, TX, Texas ASLA Merit Award in Design

Methuen Comprehensive School, Methuen, MA, to CRJA (Joan Hyde as project landscape architect)

Merit Award in Design, American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)

New England Environmental Award, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Topfer Theatre at Zach Scott, Austin, TX

US EPA, selected as 1 of 300 projects representing best practices in green infrastructure

Commercial Real Estate Award for Community Impact, Austin Business Journal

Texas Society of Architects & AIA Austin Design Award, to Andersson Wise Architects

Texas Engineering Excellence Award, Gold Medal Winner, to Encotech Engineers

South Congress Retaining Wall, Austin, TX, “Best Public Work,” Austin Chronicle

2nd Street District Streetscape, Austin, TX (local consultant to CWDG, Boston)

ULI Influence Award for having a lasting effect on the built environment

St. Stephen’s Temple Dining Hall & Booth Student Center, Austin, TX

Texas Society of Architects Design Award and AIA Austin Design Award, to Andersson Wise Architects

Featured in Texas Architect magazine

St. Stephen’s Wycliff-Freeman Dormitory, Austin, TX

Eagle Excellence Award, Texas Association of Contractors to Rogers O’Brien

AIA Austin Design Award, to Andersson Wise Architects

“Lead With The Land,” article featuring final phase of St. Stephen’s Greenway and two-decade campus transformation based on land as organizing principle, Spartan magazine

Texas Chapter ASLA Conference, Speaker, “Using Rain Gardens and Site Design Techniques to Improve Water Quality, Reduce Runoff, and Increase Water Infiltration: Two Austin Case Studies”

Joan Hyde, PLA, ASLA

Joan Hyde leads the Topio studio in Austin. Before returning to her Texas roots, she worked as a senior landscape architect at CRJA in Boston and received her MLA degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources, emphasizing large-scale design based on natural systems. She previously studied biology and art at Duke and taught science, math and photography at an international school near Athens, Greece. Drawing inspiration from the beauty and community of the Greek islands — home to compact, vibrant villages folded into the topography — she works to create places where the social fabric is intertwined with the landscape (or topío, in Greek) and where natural and built elements are seamlessly joined in a way that enhances both.

We collaborate with clients, users, architects, engineers, contractors, landscape architects, artists, CAD operators, sustainability experts, public officials, budget minders, fabricators, maintenance personnel, and specialists in any discipline. 

CLIENTS AND COLLABORATORS

Franklin Academy, East Hadaam, CT

Goliad County Courthouse

Groundsmasters Land Design

Irrigation Design Service

Kent McMillan, Land Surveyor

Mark Hart Architecture

Mell Lawrence Architects

Page Architects

Pearlstone Partners

Pentagram

Reese Lighting Design

Rogers O’Brien

St. Edward’s University

St. Gabriel’s Catholic School

St. Stephen’s Episcopal School

STG Architects

Thompson Land Engineering

UTE Consultants 

Westshop Design

Zach Scott Theatre