We are space makers .
We are space makers. Every project begins with listening. To the site, to the client, and to the question of how a landscape can shape the way people gather, move, remember, and connect. We bring that understanding into everything we design, from the first sketch to the last stone placed.
Who We Are .
Jonathan Williams
Jonathan founded Outdoor Practice with a simple belief: landscapes are a part of our lives and can change them. He designs for that attachment first, and then he makes it beautiful.
Over fifteen years his work has spanned estate-scale residences, educational campuses, working ranches, and hospitality environments. What has always driven that work is not how a landscape photographs, but how it shapes the way people gather, move, remember, and connect.
Jonathan serves as a trustee at Architecture Center Houston and chairs its Exhibition Committee, and sits on the national ASLA Climate Action and Biodiversity Committee. He writes for ASLA, with recent work published in ASLA Magazine and The Dirt.
He holds a degree from Colorado State University and is licensed in Colorado, Texas, and New York.
How We Work .
Discovery -
Site Analysis .
For a landscape to feel right, it has to start with the right questions. How do you want to feel when you step outside? What does the land want to do? What does light look like here in January, and in July?
Our discovery process looks at everything — sun, wind, views, climate, existing features — alongside how the space will actually be used. The goal is a design that feels both intentional and inevitable, as if it could only belong here.
Before anything is built, we build it in the imagination. Through hand drawings and digital tools, we develop a clear picture of what a project can become — exploring bold ideas and fine details until the design feels genuinely right.
By the time construction begins, the landscape has already been tested, refined, and resolved. That clarity reduces uncertainty on site and keeps the original intent intact through every phase.
Project Visualization - Concept .
Documentation - Detailing .
Landscapes are dynamic by nature — meant to evolve, not be frozen. Good documentation doesn't fight that. It gives contractors clear, comprehensive guidance while leaving room for the landscape to grow into itself over time.
Materials, planting palettes, and details are chosen carefully and specified precisely, so that what gets built reflects what was designed — and what was designed is built to last.
Construction Observation .
Design doesn't end when the drawings are issued. We stay close to the construction process — on site, in communication with contractors, and attentive to the details that make the difference between a project that looks finished and one that feels complete.
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Landscapes are a part of our lives and can change them. We design for that attachment first, and then we make it beautiful.