brian goad

My approach to design is based on an understanding of natural systems, the interplay of cultural layers, and how both inspire landscape narratives. Collaboration and research are at the heart of my process.

As principal at McKnight Landscape Architects, a boutique firm located in the Mid City neighborhood in Baton Rouge, I have led the master planning of several cultural landscape projects, including Spring Park in Denham Springs, Louisiana and the 1902 Courthouse in Pointe Coupee Parish. In addition to historic and cultural projects, I have designed and managed several residential commissions, school campus master plans, and a veterans cemetery.  

Prior to working at McKnight, I served as senior landscape architect at Suzanne Turner Associates, where I collaborated on urban design projects and research projects, including cultural landscape reports and cultural landscape inventories for the National Park Service, private clients, and national landscape architecture firms. My ten years at STA instilled in me an appreciation and affinity for cultural and historic landscapes that continue to inform my process and design approach.

I had the privilege of starting my career under the guidance of Robert “Doc” Reich, founder of the Robert Reich School of Architecture at Louisiana State University. In my seven years working with Doc Reich and his successor Bill Reich at Reich Associates, I collaborated on a wide range of projects including community and state parks, urban plazas, and commercial and neighborhood developments. 

As a proud Baton Rouge native, I am committed to shaping my community through the volunteer organizations and initiatives I serve. I co-founded the “Beauregarden,” a community garden in downtown Baton Rouge;  researched and co-produced the Beauregard Town Audio Tour, a self-guided walking tour of the historic downtown neighborhood; and most recently, co-founded the Baton Rouge Chapter of Urban Sketchers, a global community of artists who practice on-location drawing. 

Since 2022, I have served on the Executive Committee  of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and currently serve as the Louisiana liaison to the national ASLA Historic American Landscapes Survey program. In April 2024, I presented a session at the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Conference entitled “Strategies for Historic Preservation and Contemporary Design: A Master Plan for Spring Park.”

Planting design and native plants are a lifelong passion. I am constantly inspired by prominent designers such as Kingsbury, Oudolf, Rainer, West, Dunnett, and Pearson, and their texts; Planting: A New Perspective, Planting in a Post Wild World, and Naturalistic Planting Design. While tending native habitats at home, I test their theories to understand the ecological application and realities of planting in the humid Gulf Coast.