SmithGroupJJR hired senior landscape architect and planner Mark Soden, RLA, AICP, to lead its Campus, Community and Waterfront studio at its Phoenix office.

Soden joins SmithGroupJJR from his own firm, Soden Planning + Design pllc, a landscape architecture, land planning and urban design firm in Scottsdale.

Prior to that, Soden was a senior planner for the Salt River-Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in its Department of Community Development. Notable projects for Soden include the Tempe Center for the Arts, for which he served as principal–in-charge of site and landscape design.

SmithGroupJJR’s addition of Soden comes as it relocates its campus planning, community planning, and landscape architecture professionals, formerly housed at a separate location in Phoenix at 1425 N. First St., to its main office in the Arizona Center, downtown.

The consolidation of all SmithGroupJJR services to one location in Phoenix is consistent with the firm’s nationwide emphasis on having its myriad of design and planning professionals working under one roof.

“Mark Soden is an excellent addition to lead our award-winning Campus, Community and Waterfronts studio in Phoenix. He has an excellent reputation in Arizona for the planning, design and construction of regions, communities and places that are not only attractive, but sustainable and economically viable, too,” said Brad Woodman, AIA, LEED AP, director of SmithGroupJJR’s Phoenix office.