OJB works collaboratively as one landscape architecture firm across our offices. As active participants in our local communities, we also strive to amplify and celebrate the distinct qualities that make each place unique.
Leading Landscape Architecture + Planning
OJB urban design and planning projects look to the future. The company’s team of visionary urban planners considers the area’s natural resources, history, utility, and ongoing needs to create extraordinary designs. The goal of each design is to enrich and rejuvenate all who interact with it.
At its core, OJB stands for pragmatism, dependability, and forward-thinking design. The company not only designs outdoor spaces but creates plans to maintain them. After all, it’s our duty to care for the earth, so we constantly seek the intersection of green infrastructure and community.
Jim Burnett, FASLA is a leading voice in contemporary landscape practice through his writing, advocacy and dedication to creating meaningful spaces that challenge the conventional boundaries of landscape architecture. After earning his Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University, Jim founded the Office of James Burnett in 1989 and has continued to lead the firm for more than 30 years. Originally aspiring to be an architect, Jim’s passion for landscape architecture blossomed under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Reich at LSU’s Environmental Design School.
From the beginning of his professional practice, Jim has been keenly interested in the intersection of landscape and wellness, and the power of nature to profoundly change the way we experience the world. Jim was instrumental in using landscape to heighten the healthcare industry’s awareness of its critical importance in patient comfort and advancing patient rehabilitation and expediting patient recovery schedules. He helped change the healthcare design conversation from “illness” to “wellness” and established a need for early inclusion of a landscape program into the design process. Jim’s innovative approach exposed patients, healthcare professionals, and visitors to a new environment that allowed them to experience the beauty of nature in the form of new gardens, trails, courtyards, roof gardens, and fountains. Jim’s influence and perspective on healing and restorative design have changed the role of landscape architects on healthcare facilities ever since.
A natural connector and collaborator, Jim’s work weaves together multiple disciplines to bring science and design together in surprising new ways of accommodating human interaction. Jim’s most recent design work has been focused on the restoration of our cities and the aesthetic, economic, environmental, and social transformation of our urban centers. Through his design of great urban parks, he has been at the forefront on the integration of strong programming into the design process and operations of the parks. The success of these efforts is clearly evident in cities such as Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Houston, to name just a few.
Jim was appointed to the US Department of the State Industry Advisory Group in 2016 and is currently serving his second term as a respected design peer. He is a frequent speaker and invited critic on urban planning and landscape design of public parks and open spaces. Jim is a tireless representative of the profession through many lectures, visits to schools, and published articles. He is a strong spokesman for the ASLA and landscape design. He has served on many ASLA committees, including awards juries where he has served chairman and the CEO Roundtable.
Jim is a Registered Landscape Architect in 26 US states and Canada. In 2004, Jim was elected to ASLA’s Council of Fellows, and in 2016 Jim was honored as the recipient of the prestigious ASLA Design Medal, an annual designation that is bestowed upon Landscape Architects for their ongoing commitment to the profession and an exemplary sustained body of work. Jim and the OJB practice are the 2020 National Design award recipients for Landscape Architecture from the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum.
Chip Trageser earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University and serves on the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture’s Professional Advisory Board and the National ASLA Education committee. As a Partner, Chip Trageser oversees all design and operations in the Houston and Dallas offices and has been integral to OJB’s success and growth since joining the firm in 1997. He excels in managing urban parks, campuses, residential gardens, and mixed-use developments. In all projects, Chip encourages collaborative efforts. He knows that when all team members take ownership over a project, the landscape achieves a greater end-result. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and a long-term Houston resident, Chip possesses a deep knowledge of plants and ecosystems, particularly in several subregions of the southeastern United States. He is also well educated on various stormwater irrigation systems and is proficient in deploying green infrastructure into his unique, planting-forward designs.
Chip has received many awards for his notable projects, including Levy Park, Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University, and CityCentre in Houston. In 2015, Chip was elevated to the College of Fellows at the American Society of Landscape Architects. In his spare time, he is active in the Houston design community and is a member of the Rice Design Alliance. His talks on therapeutic and meaningful landscapes and gardens have informed students and professionals alike.
Jereck Boss is a registered Landscape Architect in Texas, Nevada and Utah and has been with OJB for 17 years. He earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Utah State University. As a Partner, Jereck supervises all services and operations in the Houston and Dallas offices and frequently collaborates and leads teams in Philadelphia, San Diego, Boston, and Denver. Over the course of his 25+ career, he has successfully designed and managed a broad range of institutional, corporate campus, mixed-use, and large-scale urban design projects, particularly walkable and innovative streetscapes. Jereck is a champion of a “design first” philosophy and believes that projects are only as successful as the least compelling design element. Growing up in El Paso, he developed an interest in design, architecture, and landscape architecture from taking notice of the fragile and resilient qualities of the Chihuahuan Desert, one of the largest and most biodiverse deserts in North America.
Among his notable built projects are the gardens at ConocoPhillips campus in west Houston, the Asia Society Texas Center in Houston, Project180 redevelopment in Oklahoma City, CityCenter urban development in Las Vegas, and the entry plaza and green roof at the LEED Platinum office tower at 609 Main in downtown Houston. When he’s not working, he plays an active role in the design community as a Board Member of the Rice Design Alliance and Utah State University’s Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Advisory Board.
Tara earned a Master of Sports Administration from Ohio University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also a Certified Sports Event Executive. As Principal of Public Realm Strategies, Tara works with designers, consultants, clients, and communities on project programming, governance and staffing, and budgeting. Her ability to build support for activation and self-sustaining operations has been pivotal to the success of several of OJB’s major urban parks, university campuses, and mixed-use developments. Keenly attuned to how open spaces can add to the quality of civic life, Tara’s role is to help clients achieve their goals with sound planning. Having grown up in multiple places across the United States, Tara is a passionate student of human nature, which serves her well as a community engagement specialist.
Katy earned a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Architecture from Texas Tech University, and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Texas Tech University. She is a licensed landscape architect in Texas. As a Principal in the Dallas office, Katy has cultivated a passion for solving urban challenges through landscape throughout her career. Her experience in both public and private practice informs a comprehensive and pragmatic approach to design. Having grown up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, she is especially interested in how people use parks, plazas, and streetscapes to build connections and community. In her free time, Katy enjoys spending time with her family, practicing pilates, and traveling.
We are always in search of talented, passionate professionals who are interested in creating places that elevate the human experience. Explore our open positions and tell us more about yourself.
