Celebrating Tim Skinner’s Retirement

After more than three decades in the landscape architecture profession, and over a decade of dedicated service at Carducci Associates, we are proud to celebrate the retirement of Tim Skinner.

Tim began his career in 1989, building a diverse foundation in both urban design and theme park design early on. Prior to joining Carducci Associates, he worked at Moorhead, Fleming, Corban / FORREC Design International, where his experience spanned both urban design and theme park projects, including work for Universal Studios Orlando. Following the economic downturn of the early 1990s, Tim relocated to Texas, an important chapter that shaped both his personal and professional path.

In 2014, Tim joined Carducci Associates as an Associate and Project Manager. Over time, his role evolved to Senior Associate and, most recently, Project Director, reflecting his broad influence across many projects, particularly those involving the Division of the State Architect (DSA). Tim played a key role in strengthening and establishing our in-house DSA process, and his steady leadership, technical knowledge, and collaborative approach have been instrumental to our firm’s success.

During Tim’s tenure, Carducci Associates experienced significant growth and change, from internal restructuring to navigating the challenges of the pandemic, while continuing to deliver the park and school projects that remain central to our practice. Through every phase, Tim was a constant presence, guiding teams and projects with clarity, preparedness, and good humor.

Among his many memorable projects, Tim often points to San Rafael High School Stadium as a standout. As Project Manager, he led the complex DSA project from construction documents through ribbon cutting. The work included a synthetic track and field, restroom and concession buildings, grandstands, and extensive agency coordination, including close collaboration with the Department of Health. The depth of construction administration and teamwork required made it a particularly rewarding experience. Tim also took great pride in the many track and field projects completed over the years, appreciating how each one, while familiar in scope, presented unique clients, challenges, and opportunities.

As a firm, we have deeply valued Tim’s commitment to strong communication and preparedness. He consistently emphasized clearly conveying design intent through thoughtful, precise drawings and fostering meaningful collaboration among multidisciplinary teams. He especially valued the relationships built with architects, civil, structural, and electrical engineers, believing that successful projects are rooted in trust, teamwork, and mutual respect. Beyond his technical contributions, Tim’s clever wit and calm presence have left a lasting impression on colleagues and collaborators alike.

Those same qualities extend beyond the office. Outside of work, Tim enjoys gardening, traveling, and spending time in the kitchen. As he steps into retirement, we are excited for him to slow down, live fully, and enjoy time spent cooking, tending his garden, and embracing a more relaxed pace of life.

Reflecting on his career, Tim often encourages emerging landscape architects to always make room for creativity, even within constraints. He reminds us to balance innovation with codes, budgets, and requirements and to keep a sense of humor along the way. Designing something unique and meaningful with limited resources, he believes, can be one of the most rewarding aspects of the profession. Above all, he reminds us that we are working together to make a positive impact on society.

Please join us in thanking Tim Skinner for his years of dedication, mentorship, and friendship. We wish him all the best in a well-earned and joyful retirement.

Capuchino High School Athletic Complex Nears Completion

Carducci Associates approaches the final stages of construction completion for the Capuchino High School Athletic Complex Project.  Over the years, Carducci’s team has dedicated itself to improving the complex athletics-based program for this project, including new baseball, soccer, softball and multi-purpose fields, new tennis courts, sports and pedestrian lighting and Accessibility updates.  Lead landscape architect Bill Fee and Lead landscape designer Jin Kim facilitated the design and construction of the modernized athletic facility for Capuchino High School, along with Timothy Skinner, Joel Franceschi & George Chacon, with Greystone West Company Construction Management, Goodland Landscape Construction, ZFA Structural Engineers, Bohley Consulting (Civil), and Zeiger Engineers (Electrical). 

Hard Hats Off to the complete team for making this one of the most significant and successful athletic fields developed for the San Mateo Union High School District! For more info about the project see:  https://www.carducciassociates.com/projects/project/capuchino-high-school-athletic-complex-project

Don Biddle Community Park / Grand Opening

Don Biddle Community Park  is now open for all (as of Sept. 24, 2022)! During the grand opening festivities, it was quite a sight to see, as people enjoyed every inch of the park, and as laughter and excitement filled the playgrounds and picnic areas. City of Dublin stakeholders and Biddle Family spoke words from the heart, highlighting the importance of public parks. Carducci Associates is proud to be a part of such an amazing team that brings great parks to all. Don Biddle Community Park ties together West and East Dublin, and a vision to link history with innovation inspired the design. When one takes a stroll on the D-loop, every corner of the great lawn, community garden, sports courts, parent paddock, adventure playground and art sculpture installations (by Steven Whyte) present opportunities for memorable experiences. We hope that Don Biddle himself would have been delighted to see what his hard work helped produce.

Brownell Middle School / Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Carducci Associates is thrilled to have been part of the Brownell Middle School campus replacement project for Gilroy Unified School District, which culminated 3 years of hard work when the school was officially opened to the public on August 12. Although Carducci Associates has been working alongside Aedis Architects and Flint Builders since 2018 on this site, Brownell has been a part of the Gilroy community since 1949, when it opened its doors to seventh and eighth graders. Few alterations were made to the original campus since its initial construction, and Carducci Associates is proud to be part of the newest chapter at Brownell. Measure E, passed by Gilroy voters, made the campus replacement possible; clever management by the design team, the GUSD facilities team, and contractor meant Brownell was reconstructed with all the elements that the District deemed vital to a 21st century learning environment.

In designing the site, Carducci balanced outdoor spaces for play, gathering, and teaching. Prior to the pandemic, the design team emphasized carving out ample space for outdoor learning in a variety of settings, including semi-circular concrete seat walls surrounding central areas for instruction, to less formal decomposed granite pathways with boulder seats in a grove of newly planted oaks. Carducci also designed courtyards inside classroom pods with ample boulder seating surrounding Shade loving greenery and wide concrete patios outside maker space garage doors. The patios will enable students to spill out from maker spaces to tinker and collaborate. Carducci is pleased that these spaces are in place and will play a crucial role of keeping students and staff safer, while enriching student learning opportunities.

In addition to the instruction-centric outdoor spaces, Carducci designed what has now been dubbed the “pollination station” packed with nectar-rich pollinator-friendly shrubs and grasses adjacent to a flexible, outdoor space for a student garden. New fruit trees provide a backdrop for a space that may be adapted for growing food or conducting science experiments that can be aided by an outdoor power pedestal intended to make this garden area as adaptable as possible for the school’s specific future needs. In addition to these upgrades, Carducci also designed a river-themed coated asphalt pattern in the central campus that reinforces biophilic themes while reflecting solar radiation to keep students and staff cool in hot Gilroy weather. Brownell also benefits from entirely new natural turf playing fields with more efficient, modern irrigation. The fields have been sited adjacent to the updated gymnasium and newly striped sports courts, away from classrooms to minimize disruption. Finally, in a nod to the community that made the modernization possible, long-lived native Valley Oaks flank the edges of the campus to provide shade along Carmel and 3rd Streets, in order to extend improvements beyond the campus.

Video credits: B43Productions