Company Profile
Callander Associates
Company Overview
Commitment…Comprehensive…Community
When you step back and examine why some planning, design, and construction projects are easier or more successful than others, you begin to uncover these words. These three simple words reflect our philosophy and what we bring to each and every client. Our clients have appreciated our level of commitment to each project and to the elevation of our profession, our comprehensive services, and the fostering of community through their projects.
This belief that people and places thrive through collaborative efforts is what Callander Associates has brought to northern California communities since Peter Callander put pencil to paper and shovel to ground in 1973. Today, while our team has grown and evolved, managing principals, Brian Fletcher, Mark Slichter, Ben Woodside, and Erik Smith continue the mantra of commitment, comprehensive, and community.
Callander Associates has 23 employees spanning 3 offices. Office locations are in San Mateo (corporate office), San Jose and Rancho Cordova.
Call it part of our culture if you must, but our firm encourages a “work hard-play hard” approach. We simply believe that happy people care more about what they put out into the world. That translates to more creativity and consideration in our designs as well as better service to our clients and the community. On a more personal level, we are privileged to work alongside co-workers who have become our friends. It’s what Principal, Mark Slichter loves most about being at Callander Associates: “With every new combination of staff there’s real chemistry. We’ve always had that and that’s probably the best thing about working here.”
Company History
Callander Associates was founded in 1973 by Peter Callander. This firm of landscape architects provides consultation, master planning, design studies, preliminary plans, construction documents, and construction review services for a variety of landscape architectural projects. Public works, mostly parks, recreation and open space projects, constitute approximately two-thirds of our work with the remaining one-third being commercial, industrial and mixed-project types. Services have been provided to a wide range of public and private clients, individuals as well as corporations, other design professionals, and public agencies on project types that include:
· parks of all types and sizes
· playgrounds
· athletic fields
· streetscapes and urban design
· open space planning
· site planning
· bayfront planning
· hotels and lodging facilities
· multi-unit housing
· commercial facilities
· trailways and greenways
· harbor and marina shoreside design
· highway planting and mitigation
The firm works closely with design professionals and the community on private and public projects to facilitate creative and comprehensive design possibilities and to provide clients with integrated design services. These services include consultant coordination, regulatory agency submittals and reviews, and community outreach. The firm also insists on achieving realistic and economically responsible design solutions.
Many of Callander Associates’ more complex and interesting projects have involved an emphasis on community outreach, followed by site planning, construction documents and cost management. The firm’s principals and associates have successfully implemented a variety of unique design solutions throughout the San Francisco region, Monterey Bay areas, and the Sacramento to Stockton valley corridor. Services are coordinated under the direct supervision of the principals and associates, who mentor and collaborate with staff to further their design, project management and related professional skills.
Benefits
To assist staff members in their short and long range professional and economic goals, Callander
Associates continues to add and refine our benefits. We recognize the importance and value of working
with staff that are professionally motivated to perform at the highest levels achievable for each individual.
The firm, our clients and each staff member benefits from this approach. The following is a partial list of
benefits available to staff members:
Current List of Benefits
· positive and progressive professional growth environment
· senior staff as resources and instructors with daily accessibility
· generous group health policy and dental care plan for full time staff members
· frequent TGIF party
· office-sponsored social events (i.e., River Cats or Giants baseball, paintball, etc.)
· work hour flexibility to accommodate commute time, child care and other issues
· flexible paid time off package that includes holiday, sick and vacation time combined for full time staff members
· support for requests to expand office library, both reference books and software
· excellent computer equipment and software
· bright, pleasant and spacious individual work spaces
· progressive Autocad and networked computer systems
· excellent outside vendors for all reprographic needs
· excellent interprofessional collaboration with responsive subconsultants
· excellent and expanding group of repeat clients for both private and public projects
· unique and challenging projects of varying types
· annual performance review and goal setting session
· weekly, monthly and six month workload schedules to minimize surprises
· flexible and pleasant coworkers
· quick enrollment in 40lK program
· continuing education opportunities and funding
· reimbursement for passing the state licensing exam
· full payment for monthly parking sticker, Caltrain or BART ticket
· opportunity to work closely or directly with client, the public and others on the “project”
· reimbursement of incoming staff’s monthly health insurance premiums, up to the firm’s
current monthly amount, until new coverage is put into effect for full time staff members
· openness and willingness to provide a learning environment to assist you in your short and long term goals
· opportunity to work in all phases of the design process on a wide variety of project types