Laurence Qamar is a Town Planner, Urban Designer, and Architect with over 20 years of professional experience consulting for private developers and public jurisdictions throughout the United States. Laurence’s expertise in New Urbanism and Smart Growth has lead the design and implementation of project for:
- Main street revitalization
- Pedestrian/transit oriented planning
- Neighborhood housing infill
- New neighborhood development
- Redeveloping shopping centers to main streets
- Suburban redevelopment
- Sustainable communities
- Form Based Codes
- Mixed-use building design
- Housing design
Common to all his projects is the goal of advancing the timeless art and craft of town making. Wether a rural village or an urban downtown, Laurence designs communities to be walkable, diverse, linked with transit, connected to nature, sustainable through the generations, and simply beautiful places. While communities result from the complex dynamics of human interaction, the physical environment always affects human interaction.
Laurence is committed to working with multi-disciplinary design teams, which unite the expertise of market analysts, transportation planners, developers, governments, and citizens - anyone who influences or is influenced by the built environment. Laurence has worked extensively as a design professional, facilitator, and organizer of over 50 public workshops.
Laurence is a frequent lecturer advocating techniques of main street revitalization, commercial strip retrofitting, and Smart Development.
Prior to starting his own practice in 2002, Laurence was a Principal, and the Director of Urban Design at Lennertz Coyle & Associates in Portland, Oregon. He lead the design of a diverse range of planning and architectural projects throughout the Western United States including Oregon, Washington, California, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
Laurence worked with Duany Plater-Zyberk, Architects and Town Planners prior to 1993 as a Project Manager and Designer on public and private planning Charrettes throughout the United States and Canada. His earlier architecture internship was completed while working in New York City and Aspen, Colorado.
He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie-Mellon University, and a Master of Architecture from University of Miami.