Van Meter Williams Pollack is an award-winning architecture and urban design firm based in San Francisco, Denver, and Minneapolis. We provide a full range of design and planning services for a variety of clients, project types and scales.
We’ve been fortunate to work with some amazing partners, and have a long list of happy clients. If you ask them about us, they’ll tell you that we are tenacious solutions providers. We believe that environmentally intelligent design, planning and building is critical to the world’s future.
Some of our focus areas:
Affordable Housing: Equitable Housing Solutions
We plan, design, and build a wide variety of affordable housing from high-density urban communities to small-lot single-family housing. Our work has received numerous design awards in national and local design competitions. Most recently, our Eagle Park was awarded the 2020 Structures Award for Community Impact. As cost and quality of life are primary concerns in our housing, we use simple elements of construction, building materials and scale to create beautiful spaces.
Mixed-Use: Let’s Mix It Up
There’s no shortage of mutual benefits to real mixed-use development. The right mix, concentration and placement of uses can spark a neighborhood’s identity, and can mean the difference between rich, dense community activity and the unnecessary trek to remote amenities elsewhere.
Our projects combine living, working, shopping and leisure, all co-mingled in a shared environment. Access to local, attractive amenities invites people to walk more, lessens their reliance on cars, brings life to the street, and supports both business and the environment.
Infill Housing: Good Neighbors by Design
Infill housing presents an opportunity to transform underused urban areas into inviting public realms. Responsive infill gives a place new life, making it more functional, exciting, beautiful, and sustainable, while at the same time preserving its character and history. Whether it’s a single building or an entire urban district, our aim is always to create straightforward, comfortable spaces, respecting good design and intimate scale to evoke a unique sense of renewal.
Transit Oriented: Keeping Community on Track
Designing places where people have easy access to all kinds of transit options (like bike/walk routes, ridesharing and public transportation) simply makes sense. Our transit projects combine mixed-use and infill development with pedestrian-friendly streets close to public transit. These comprehensive plans create lively villages that support and encourage people to buy local, drive less and use public transit more. Which translates to less congestion, less pollution, more exercise, local interactions and shared transport. Now, that’s a healthy, winning community.
Neighborhoods: Developing a Sense of Place
Imagine a place where people could walk to where they wanted to go, find what they needed there or easily jump on a streetcar or bus to get it nearby, greeting friends and neighbors along the way. Mister Rogers had it right. We think neighborhoods like this make so much sense we recommend them to our clients so together we can develop them.
Streets, Squares & Corridors: Intersections for living
Great streets happen when pedestrians, cars and bicycles all get along. Our streetscape projects focus on making streets more comfortable to walk and gather, and better connected to a variety of retail and other districts and neighborhoods. We do this by arranging inviting places to sit, linger and enjoy private or social time.
What attracts people to urban spaces are other people. That’s why we design squares and parks to enhance the flow of human exchange. By providing easy access, clear boundaries, focal points, views and ample places to sit and interact, these spaces accommodate everyone.
Codes & Guidelines: Letting Cities be Cities
Whether you’re looking to update zoning, add more design standards, streamline your municipal codes, or study opportunities to preserve open space, our focus on prescriptive guidelines ensures that new development makes a positive impact in the community. We build on the best qualities of a place to strengthen and enhance the existing character of a neighborhood, a street corridor, or an entire city. The process of setting such standards is a crucial way for a community to transform its vision into a reality, while creating an invaluable tool to both shape and accommodate a city’s future.
Other Environments
We’re proud of our award-winning work, which includes sustainable, high-density, and high profile projects that bring people together and enrich their surroundings. While much of what we do focuses on the planning, design, and construction of infill housing, our nimble approach and broad range of expertise positions us as ‘all-around players.’ What can we do for you?
