Land3 Studio chosen to help bring ‘a strong sense of place’ for renovated KCI airport

The importance of his firm’s work on the massive renovation of the Kansas City International Airport is not lost on Bob Bushyhead.

“Projects of this type and scale come very rarely in a career,” he said, adding that the project will impact the Kansas City experience for many years.

Bushyhead is co-founder of Land3 Studio of Lee’s Summit, the lead landscape architecture firm on the KCI project. Many in the Kansas City area wanted this work, he said.

“This is a generational project in Kansas City.”

Land3 Studio was selected by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the project’s architect and structural engineer.

“We’re delighted by the opportunity to collaborate with Land3,” said Jordan Pierce, senior designer with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

“They bring deep local knowledge and an understanding of KCI’s landscape legacy. Their design creates a strong sense of place for the new terminal, with rolling berms and native plantings evoking the region’s prairies.”

Bushyhead formed Land3 Studio in 2007 with Jeff Bruce and Richard Yates.

Land3 has worked on Kansas City landmark projects before, including Arrowhead Stadium, Sporting KC’s Children’s Mercy Park and the new Kansas City Convention Hotel.

“The timing of the (KCI) project fit nicely into our projected workflow,” Bushyhead said. “We have several large and longtime frame projects at various levels of development.”

“With the design team, we are addressing site design from Paris Street through the new terminal,” Bushyhead said. “This includes public spaces, roadways, internal courtyards and interiors landscapes.”

Bushyhead said the KCI project is an opportunity to show Land3’s range and depth as a design firm.

“Projects of this scale and exposure require a broad knowledge of the component aspects of a large landscape solution, including irrigation, soils, plantings, hardscapes, lighting and other systems,” he said. “These all need to be coordinated and constructed in conjunction with civil, structural, architectural and utility improvements. There is a lot to like in large projects.“

Larger projects are delivered along a multi-year continuum, allowing for true design team relationships to develop and more of a collective effort toward a common vision, Bushyhead said.

This is a rewarding time to be a landscape architect, he said.

“Exciting and much more complex as the focus (is on) sustainable environments, water quality and expressive design,” Bushyhead said.

“I believe that landscape architecture has continued to grow in status globally as we realize the importance of the outdoor landscape experience in our overall well-being and quality of life,” Bushyhead said.

“Landscape architects tend to be among the leaders in the concept of sustainable environments. This is true in this region as well, as the awareness has grown with Kansas City’s continued evolution.”