OUR PEOPLE
VODA Landscape + Planning is a multi-disciplinary design firm, specializing in landscape architecture and community planning. We are passionate about design and building community, and of serving as responsible stewards of the natural environment.
Water is one of the most important factors in landscape design and urban planning in the western United States. Our quality of life relies directly on the responsible stewardship of this increasingly scarce resource. For this reason, the founding partners of the firm selected the name “voda,” the Slovenian word for water, also reflective of the transformative experience we had spending time studying landscape architecture and urban planning at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenija.
Melanie Schmidt is a landscape architect and community planner for VODA, and is a LEED™ accredited professional. She is a licensed Landscape Architect for the state of Utah and is also a Construction Document Technologist through the Construction Specification Institute.
Melanie has extensive experience in master planning, parks and open space design, and site design in the state of Utah. Recent projects she has collaborated on are Daybreak New Community Parks and Open Space, Weber State University Master Plan Update, and the Snowbasin Resort Master Plan.
Melanie graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning. She gained expansive design experience while studying abroad at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and while traveling in other parts of Europe, China and Chile.
Mark Morris is a landscape architect and community planner for VODA, and is a LEED™ accredited professional. He has extensive site design experience throughout the Western U.S. Mark’s recent project experience includes crafting an Economic Development “Best Practice” policy for Salt Lake County, a site planning sustainability study for the University of Utah College of Architecture + Planning, and a public outreach report for the Red Butte Creek Oil Spill for Salt Lake City. He was also the primary landscape designer for the Swaner Eco Center in Park City, Utah, the first LEED™NC Platinum building in the state of Utah.
Mark holds a master of urban planning degree from the University of Utah and an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture and environmental planning from Utah State University, where he received the Benjamin Gillman International Scholarship for study abroad in Ljubljana, Slovenija. As a professional, he has worked on several projects that have received awards from the Utah Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Utah Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He currently serves on executive boards for the Sugar House Park Authority, the Utah Center for Architecture and the Built Environment, and the Sugar House Community Garden.
