Team
TEAM
Office of Cheryl Barton (O|CB) is a nationally recognized design leader in the shift toward a more sustainable future through landscape architecture and green urbanism. Since the firm’s inception in 1994, we have been committed to the creation of healthy cities, robust ecologies, and beautiful, habitable spaces; integrating a strong design ethic with the principles of regenerative thinking.
O|CB works across a broad range of project scales, from dynamic landscapes in cities and campuses; to green infrastructure on urban brownfield sites; to the cultural landscapes of national parks and World Heritage properties; to intimate, artistic and evocative spaces. Our clients are municipalities, universities, cultural facilities, non-profit institutions, public agencies and corporations, all of whom are interested in deepening their relationship with the natural world and in building community connectivity.
CHERYL BARTON, RLA, FASLA, FAAR, LEED AP, Founding Principal
Cheryl Barton is a landscape architect, sustainable sites educator and the creative director of the O|CB studio in San Francisco, which she founded in 1994. She has established a national reputation for the seamless integration of design excellence and environmental intelligence in her work. Her approach is collaborative and idea-driven—based on the belief that landscape is a powerful medium that can transform human values as well as create inspiring physical settings.
Cheryl received a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Design School and a BA in Fine Arts and Geology. She holds a CLARB national registration and is also registered in California, Virginia, Arizona and Oregon. She is a Fellow and Past President of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a recipient of the prestigious 2003-2004 Rome Prize. A member of the USGBC and a LEED Accredited Professional, she has taught Sustainable Site Planning and Landscape Design workshops at the Pacific Energy Center in San Francisco, and a ‘Green-on-Brown’ studio in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at UC Berkeley. An internationally known lecturer and visiting critic, she was a Principal and Director of the Design Studio at EDAW Inc., in San Francisco prior to founding her firm. She began her career as a designer in the Office of Dan Kiley.
Cheryl’s award-winning work has been published in Places Magazine, Green Source, Land Forum, Architecture, Process Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, Landscape Journal, Urban Land International, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle-Examiner, the Los Angeles Times and Business Week. It has also been exhibited at Wave Hill and the Urban Center in New York, the Limn Gallery and the deYoung Museum in San Francisco, the AIA/MOMA gallery in San Francisco and at the American Academy in Rome. She was recently featured in the award winning documentary ‘Women in the Dirt: Landscape Architects Shaping California’.
TODD MEAD, RLA, ASLA, LEED AP, Principal
Todd Mead is a Principal with O|CB with over 30 years of experience as a landscape architect and urban designer. He has led a broad range of projects varying in scale, budget, and complexity, including urban parks, university campuses, gardens, urban infill redevelopment, and corporate campuses throughout the United States. Todd has collaborated extensively with architects and has led integrated interdisciplinary teams realizing projects for public and private clients. His design work often involves the regeneration of natural systems as a means of making healthy urban places that amplify the social, economic, and ecological context.
KAL O’LEARY, Associate
Kal O'Leary enjoys designing urban public spaces—where the environment, society, and our political systems meet. With a background in architecture and graphic design, Kal is driven by technical clarity and creativity. They have worked on many phases of design projects, from development to concept renderings to construction.
URMILA VENKAT, ASLA, Associate
Urmila Venkat has over 10 years of experience in landscape architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area and has worked on architectural projects throughout Asia. With a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Bachelor of Architecture, her background encompasses a range of project types including large-scaled master planned projects, educational campus expansions, and private estates and residences, internationally and around the U.S. Over the past several years, Urmila has been actively involved in managing several prominent corporate, academic, and healthcare campus developments in the Bay Area.
Through her exposure to global design, Urmila developed an awareness of international design practices and superior cross-cultural communication skills. Her dual training in architecture and landscape architecture has equipped with her with a strong design sense and deep understanding of the built environment. Believing in the significance of every individual’s unique experience, Urmila focuses on the experiential qualities of a place to create environments that offer meaningful connections to each user.
JOHN RABAGO, RLA, ISA Certified Arborist, Associate
Inspired by a number of steeping environmental issues, John sees landscape architecture as a leading field in managing our quickly changing climate and in introducing society to a more adaptive habit of living. He is interested in the design of spaces that remind people of their connectedness to ecological processes and the natural world.
Meghann Dubie, Associate
Meghann Dubie is excited to return to O|CB as Archive & Operations Manager after a year as Assistant Academic Office Coordinator for the Schools of Music and Theatre & Dance at San Francisco State University.
She graduated with a B.A. in Technical Theater and a minor in Business Administration from San Francisco State University. Meghann has been active in the Bay Area theater community, collaborating with several independent companies including 11th Hour Ensemble, Mugwumpin and Dark Porch Theater Company. She also served as Managing Director for Do it Live! Productions.
In addition to studio operations, Meghann oversees responses to RFPs and RFQs. Please send any new business leads to her attention at bd@toocb.com.
The O|CB studio combines a team of individuals with diverse backgrounds in landscape architecture, architecture, fine arts, ecological planning, urban design, graphic design, and plant science. Our practice is personal and intensive, allowing close collaboration with each other, clients, integrated design teams, and communities. Our firm is well-versed in the challenges and technical strategies inherent in a sustainable design approach. Our practice is cross-disciplinary, collaborative, idea-driven, economically efficient, and site specific. The quality of our work reflects our culture and creative process. We share a strong commitment to design excellence and critical dialogue as well as an ambition and passion for the creation of enduring and vital places that give thoughtful form to community, environment, and culture.
O|CB is a certified WBE/LBE with the City and County of San Francisco Contract Monitoring Division and a certified DBE under the California Unified Certification Program.