8月 3, 2018

Name: Patrick Henry, PLA, ASLA

Current Title: Landscape Architect

Office Location: Louisville

Years at Gresham Smith: Almost 1

 

Meet Patrick Henry, our latest Faces of Gresham Smith feature. From motocross racer to chef to landscape architect, this Louisville native has almost done it all! Keep reading to learn what led him to a mid-life career change and what his favorite project has been since joining Gresham Smith.

 

Where did you grow up?
Louisville, KY

 

Where did you go to school?
The University of Massachusetts-Amherst

 

What made you choose your profession?
When I was a chef, the executive chef I worked under was married to a landscape architect.  She introduced me to the profession and Landscape Architecture Magazine and I completely fell in love with the idea of doing this for a living. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

 

What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you?
This one ties in to the last question. When I was 32 years old, with a wife and son, I was considering changing my career and going back to school for landscape architecture. I was taking a drawing class and I asked the art instructor for some advice on whether it made sense to drag my family through that whole process. He told me “in the scope of a lifetime, it’s only a few years of commitment…and if it’s really what you want to do, then it’ll be well worth it for you and your family…so do it”.

 

 

What drew you to Gresham Smith?
Louis Johnson, a fellow landscape architect at Gresham Smith, recruited me! I also liked that the company has a national presence, which has given me the opportunity to work on large-scale projects such as Town Branch Commons. That project is my favorite I’ve worked on so far because it incorporates three things I’m passionate about: multi-modal transportation, green infrastructure and aesthetically pleasing design.

 

Do you have any hidden talents?
I’m a fantastic cook. Although now that you know I used to be a chef I guess that’s not necessarily a hidden talent.

 

What’s your favorite Gresham Smith memory?
Having drinks with my coworkers from the Louisville office at Sky Gardens, a Nashville Airbnb with two roof top gardens.

 

What’s something your coworkers might not know about you?
I love great modern dance and ballet. Also, I used to be a motocross racer and raced on the regional arena-cross circuit.

 

What music is playing in your car right now?
Courtney Barnett, Kendrick Lamar, Nirvana and Palace Music