ALUM OF THE MONTH: BRYCE FROST
June 1, 2016
Name: Bryce Frost
Title and Company: Landscape/Urban Designer for ima Design Inc. in Newport Beach, CA. Interned summer of 2013. Began Full Time January 2014 to current.
Hometown: DeWitt, Iowa
Major and Graduation Date: Bachelors in Horticulture with an emphasis in Landscape Design and Installation from Iowa State University December 2010. Masters in Landscape Architecture/Urban Design from University of Oklahoma May 2014.
Major Job/Position Responsibilities: Currently, I am working and living in Fushun, China for a 6 month contract designing a Theme Park through our company (ima Design). My roles here have included site master planning, planting design, storyboard writing for attractions and themed lands, designing circulation and planting areas around roller coasters and other park attractions, and even conceptually designing architecture components such as bus stations and zoo exhibits for the zoo area within the park.
I will return back home to Newport Beach November 1st – the following are my tasks back in Newport:
- Collaborate with fellow designers and project managers to develop construction document packages and site master plans for Irvine Company Properties in Orange County and the San Francisco Bay Area. Notable Irvine Company Design projects I have played a role in: Hotel Irvine, Verizon Wireless Campus, Portola Court Apartments, and River View Apartments (San Jose, CA), and Sony’s Motiongate Theme Park in Dubai.
- Review and comply with the City of Irvine building, park and streetscape permit process throughout each Design. Submit plans and fees to the city for plan check, pick up, and address comments for projects within the city of Irvine.
- Conduct site visits to past, current, and future company project sites where I monitor installation, take photos, and develop character summaries from each site.
- Coordinate the office’s sample material library. Organize site furnishings, paving, fabrics, playground equipment, etc and serve as one of the office contacts for manufacturers and other vendors.
What you like most about your job/position: I like seeing the impact my design has on people’s lives, whether its city parks, theme parks, apartment courtyards, or gardens. I have been fortunate enough while working at ima to have a hand in many different projects, and see many types of projects. The central theme I enjoy in each project is working with plants, something I learned a great foundation with at Iowa State. Unfortunately, plants may not be noticed on every site, but when they are gone there is such a void left in the space, and thus we see their importance. My knowledge of Horticulture at Iowa State University gives me such an advantage within the field of Landscape Architecture as most landscape architects, crazy enough, do not know their plant material.
What advice would you give to current students: Enjoy your time in school and learn as much as you can in classes and labs its time you cannot get back, and Iowa State is the perfect place to gain all the tools that will make you successful in the future. Be involved in as many clubs as you can handle and meet as many people as you can. I still stay in contact with so many colleagues from the Iowa State Horticulture Department, and seeing and hearing about all the amazing projects they are involved with is inspiring and great if you ever are looking to change jobs. Take advantage of any opportunity you get to travel. Especially within Horticulture there are many opportunities to see and learn about many different plants in each hardiness zone. I also have enjoyed learning from each culture I have been involved working with, and find that to have significant value as well.