ABOUT

G2 Collaborative is a small, creative, landscape architecture firm focused on the integration of environmentally smart technologies and meaningful, compelling design. Principals Lisa Giersbach and Gigi Saltonstall, bring together their shared interests in the power of the landscape to create community, vibrant social settings, and rich ecological environments. The firm’s work ranges from site design and master planning for mixed-use, institutional and residential projects, to urban design and planning.

Process is central to our work. We work closely with clients to understand program and project goals. We find inspiration through detailed and creative assessment of the project area and surrounding context including analysis of a site’s changing qualities, such as sun angle, seasons, wind, storm water patterns, plant associations, social uses, and site history. With an informed understanding of site come clear design strategies to create grounded, functional, maintainable, and meaningful public and private spaces, regardless of project complexity and scale. Our design solutions not only emphasize the inherent qualities of site, but aspire to create spatial drama that adds to the generation of memorable and enduring places.

Using a collaborative approach and participatory engagement strategies, we strive to create inspiring and welcoming environments for all age ranges to create equitable and accessible outdoor spaces. Through discussions with the public, stakeholder groups, and our clients, we develop a better understanding of the site’s opportunities and challenges to be addressed through our work.

G2 Collaborative maintains a dynamic affiliation with a variety of distinguished architects, horticulturists, environmental consultants, and engineers and has a history of successfully addressing accessibility challenges and budgetary constraints. We are experienced in working with permitting and municipalities on many levels to deliver a project. As well, we have demonstrated a commitment to sustainable design. Both Principals are LEED Accredited Professionals and have successfully realized numerous innovative, sustainable and LEED certified projects.

In our practice, we strive to bring creative, individual solutions to each client, designing landscapes which create a sense of place, purposefulness, and beauty.

Gigi

When Gigi was 10 years old, she watched her sister design and build a model house for a school project and knew immediately that she wanted to become an architect. After growing up in Newton, MA, she attended Willams College where she received her BA in Art History. She then traveled south to the University of Virginia School of Architecture where she earned a Master of Architecture degree followed by a Master of Landscape Architecture degree. After over a decade of practice back in the Boston area working on a wide range of institutional and residential projects, Gigi started her own Landscape Architecture firm in 2012 before joining forces with G Design Studio to establish G2 Collaborative. Gigi operates out of the strong belief that successful spaces are created through careful and deliberate teamwork keeping careful aim at maintainable, sustainable, livable and, especially, beautiful places. In addition to that sort of fun, Gigi is a huge dog-lover, throws a great party, and spends as much time as possible with family.

Lisa

Lisa believes in the power of the landscape to build community, the beauty of landscape to shape experience, and the potential of the designed landscape to have profound effects on urban and ecological systems. Beginning her career in the field of Studio Art and Art History, Lisa earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History at Grinnell College in Iowa and worked in Museum Education at the Cloisters Museum in New York City. Working in art education in the sylvan setting of Fort Tyron Park, nestled in Upper Manhattan, she discovered the discipline of landscape architecture. Lisa went on to earn her Master of Landscape Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. After 14 years in practice at Richard Burck Associates, Lisa founded G design studio in 2012 to continue pursuing her passion for creating spaces for people in the integration of art and ecology, and in 2014, Lisa and Gigi brought together their shared interests to establish G2 Collaborative. Passionate about design in general, Lisa’s mid-century home tucked into the woods is a palette for her many projects. She is also an animal-lover and an adventurer. Lisa can be found on ropes courses, hiking trails and kayaking all over New England, New York and New Jersey on any given weekend.

Nicole Gaenzler

Nicole grew up in Germany where she studied and obtained a professional degree in Architecture from the Technical University in Munich. After starting her career at an Architecture and Urban Design office, she soon developed a keen interest in Landscape Architecture. Her desire to learn more about the profession, together with a long-held wish to study abroad, brought her to the United States where she earned her Master of Landscape Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Building on the symbiotic relationship between the two disciplines, Nicole offers an integrated perspective to all her projects.

With more than 20 years of experience at distinguished firms - Martha Schwartz Partners, Sasaki, and Peter Zumthor’s architecture studio in Switzerland - Nicole brings both expertise and never-ceasing curiosity to her work to create artistic, innovative, and sustainable solutions. Nicole has also taught numerous design studios at the Boston Architectural College and is teaching an environmental course in the architecture program at Roger Williams University where she shares her passion for the profession and her strong belief in the transformational power of Landscape Architecture. She is an avid equestrian and spends as much time as possible with her horse roaming the New England countryside.

Yiyang Qian

Yiyang is interested in issues surrounding social phenomena, environmental psychology and anthropology. She is fascinated by the complexity of humanity and multi-disciplinary systems sculptured and integrated together in landscape design. After receiving her Master of Landscape Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design in 2017, Yiyang joined G2 in 2018. She also earned her bachelor of Urban Design at Wuhan University in China prior to coming to New England. As a foreigner, she is driven by her identity to be more sensitive to social vulnerable groups.

Yiyang loves to explore countries all over the world. She learnt weaving in Sri Lanka, studied building techniques in India and researched ancient astronomical monuments in France.

Yiyang is a music lover and a amateur film photographer. She walks on the streets and observes reflections merging into new images in the windows.

Patricia Noto

Patricia is a landscape designer with a Master of Landscape Architecture Degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. Originally from Rhode Island, she is interested in and passionate about the experience of local landscapes as well as creating more equitable urban space.

Prior to her career in landscape architecture, Patricia worked in sustainable urban agriculture in Brooklyn and Providence, and remains interested in growing (and eating) food. She received a National ASLA award for her work with two co-writers on the Student's Guide for Environmental Justice in 2018. Patricia holds at Bachelor of Arts degree from Bates College, where she studied Environmental Studies and Studio Art.

Alison Goyer

Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Alison holds a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from NC State University and undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Global Studies from UNC Chapel Hill. In the fall of 2018, Alison moved to the Boston area to begin work as a landscape designer. She joined G2 in the fall of 2021, mid-pandemic, and has been a great addition to the team!

Outside of work, Alison loves reading books, going to movies, and wandering around her urban neighborhood. She is also a fair-weather outdoor enthusiast (at least by New England standards) who enjoys running and biking around the city, swimming in lakes, and sewing.

Huyen Nguyen

Huyen joined G2 in the summer of 2021 as an intern, while pursuing a master’s degree in landscape architecture at the Boston Architectural College. Following her graduation in May 2022, Huyen joined G2 as a full-time employee.

Huyen prefers to be called by her nickname, Quinn. Quinn hails from Vietnam where she did her undergraduate degree in urban planning at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture. Her undergraduate education prepared her with a comprehensive understanding of the components of the urban environment, and how those components can work together efficiently. The concept of landscape architecture for her is that it is a living structure, not just decoration, and believes that landscape design can balance the relationship between urban development and preservation of the natural world.

Quinn is still getting use to Boston winters which she finds far too cold! She is a big fan of Asian food and has an endless love for hotpot and matcha desserts, and for her mental and physical health she loves to work out at home (yoga, weight-training, etc.).

Yuting Chen

Yuting Chen received her Master of Landscape Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design, where she focused her studio work on the dynamic intimacy between land and people. At RISD, Yuting also spent much of her time in glass making studios and creating multi-media art installations. Upon graduation, Yuting moved to Boston to explore more of New England. Prior to G2, Yuting worked as a junior designer at Richard Burck Associates in Somerville. With her multidisciplinary experience and her cross-cultural background, Yuting is excited to bring her cheerful energy to G2 office.

In her free time, Yuting is an adventurer who is always seeking new experiences. Yuting is a plant lover and a bunny lover. You can find her hiking or camping in the summer and painting and clay-sculpting in the winter. Recently, she has been learning to set up an indoor greenhouse for her rare tropical plant collection.