"We want the outdoor experience to become a destination in its own right."

Owner and Principal, Mark Tessier, ASLA, leads a studio of talented and committed architects and designers on a diverse collection of residential, market-rate, commercial, institutional, hospitality, municipal and affordable multi-family housing complexes.

Mark's primary interest is the realization of projects from their conceptual ideas into a structured framework that allow the landscape to grow, adapt and develop with time. He continues to explore the integration of sustainable design principles in projects both large and small.

Mark's passion for the aesthetics of his outdoor surroundings began at a young age. He wanted to connect people with their environment in surprising ways. Ultimately directing his curiosity toward the profession of Landscape Architecture and Design, Mark began his education with an emphasis on Horticulture and later focused his studies on Landscape Architecture. His varied interests are influenced by an insatiable curiosity for art, travel, historical references, and product and materials research. He thoughtfully blends his passion and experience to design innovative spatial layouts that make exterior environments more desirable, sustainable, and accessible.

Prior to opening his Santa Monica-based office in 2004, Mark was senior associate in charge of the Landscape Architecture Studio for Rios Clementi Hale Studios. Through his work and own exploration, Mark's vision for his own company developed – a firm grounded in solid design that utilized sustainability as a core principle. Additionally, Mark wanted to create a culture that encourages his team to explore outside interests that fuel creativity, development and growth.

Lucie is inspired by landscape designs that engage and connect people with their natural surroundings and restructures their relationship to outdoor spaces. Using this personal design framework coupled with her desire to take care of the earth’s limited resources, Lucie is driven to create beautiful, innovative, and timeless designs to transform outdoor spaces and improve the health and well-being of people and the environment.

Lucie’s design philosophy is rooted in her time living and studying urban design in Scandinavia; her formative years immersed in educational and personal experiences within the varied landscape of the Central California coast; and her love of environmental science, technology, and creative expression. Fascinated by the power of planting design to define space, Lucie uses her experiences to guide an aesthetic that gracefully blends functionality, simplicity, and harmony.

Lucie holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. In her spare time, Lucie loves to travel, cook, and draw. You can catch her riding around town on her red Vespa when she has not hunkered down knitting a one-of-a-kind item.

With a background in studio art and furniture making, Virginia draws from her experience as a maker to approach designing the outdoor environment. Through this lens, she uses planting and hardscape materials as a form of sculpture and thoughtfully explores their impact on circulation as a means of experiencing different moments in time and space.

As a designer, Virginia approaches problem-solving as a creative exercise, where design solutions are both functional and elegant. She delights in the unexcepted and enjoys the chance to inject fun and whimsy into projects while creating connections between the users of the environment and the evolving nature of the landscape.

Virginia received her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree from The University of Alabama. Prior to relocating to Los Angeles, she worked in St. Louis and New York City. With her transition to West Coast living Virginia brings knowledge and experience well rooted within a diverse array of ecosystems and environments. In her free time, Virginia enjoys reading, cooking, and exploring her art practice at a local ceramics studio.

Jody identifies ways to expand Mark Tessier Landscape Architecture, Inc. through her love of design, insatiable curiosity, and thoughtful approach to holistically developing the business. She shapes the firm’s overall brand, cultivates client relationships, and works to grow the business. As an advocate for promoting good design, Jody shares MTLA, Inc.'s work to generate new and exciting opportunities for the company.

Jody is involved in many aspects of the firm from proposal writing and operations to brand development and marketing. She draws from her early work in New York City and Los Angeles - as an arts advocate, communications and public relations strategist, project manager, and development specialist in the nonprofit, private, and public sectors - to create a unified message and expand the business to produce results.