Participants

Becky Zimmermann, Owner and President, Denver office
Becky Zimmermann is an owner and president of Design Workshop, an international land planning and urban design firm.  She is involved in tourism, community, economic and marketing-related consulting.  She is highly recognized for her work with resort communities including visitor services analysis, market definition, positioning and tourism planning; and in urban areas for brownfield redevelopment, development entitlements and real estate economics. Becky is currently working on the redevelopment of the Gates Rubber Factory for Cherokee Denver, LLC, a master plan for the Sun Valley Resort, and a development strategy for the Saratoga National Golf Club.  She completed a Tourism Development Master Plan for Andorra and the Tourism Development Master Plan for North Lake Tahoe, which received an Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Becky is a frequent keynote speaker for a variety of conferences including the Union of British Columbia Municipalities Conference on Sustainability, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Recreation Development Council and ULI forums on transit-oriented development. Her work has been published in Metropolis magazine, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Urban Land, and a variety of local periodicals.  She was recognized as a distinguished business leader by the Denver Business Journal in its Forty Under 40 Award.  She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Riverfront Park Foundation. She holds an MBA degree from the University of Colorado and bachelors degrees in Communication and Business Administration from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.  Becky is a member of ULI, serving on the Recreation Development Council and she teaches Marketing of Real Estate classes for the ULI Real Estate School.

Todd Johnson, Principal, Denver office

Todd Johnson, a partner and principal with Design Workshop, has devoted his career to planning and designing memorable projects throughout the United States, Canada, Middle East and in Asia. He is an expert in creating urban spaces that celebrate public activity; using walkways, streets, buildings, parks, plazas and art to stimulate interest and activity. These accomplishments are always built on a solid understanding that collaboration between public and private sectors, between members of a collaborative team is essential to achieving success.  Todd is responsible for leading the partners of Design Workshop in defining the firm’s own sustainability principles called Legacy Design. The firm’s work is founded and evolved on quadruple performance in four measured categories; environment, community, economics and art. The Legacy Design approach is evident in the firm’s award winning work on Riverfront Park at Denver Commons, Kierland Commons in Phoenix and the redevelopment of the rail yards in Las Vegas, Nevada. Recently Todd has led planning efforts for redevelopment of the rail yards in Spokane and the waterfront redevelopment in Bellingham Washington. Todd is a graduate of Harvard University and Utah State University, and was awarded a fellowship from Harvard to produce an urban design plan for the City of Jerusalem. The plan was awarded First Prize for Urban Design by Progressive Architecture Magazine.

Allyson Mendenhall, Associate, Denver office

Allyson Mendenhall, an associate with Design Workshop, is the Manager of DW Legacy Design® Content with the firm. Allyson works under the leadership of Design Workshop’s Chief Design Officer to develop strategies and lead initiatives that promote and teach Legacy Design across the firm. She directs the efforts of Forum Leaders representing expertise in each of the four Legacy Design spheres of knowledge (Environment, Art, Community, and Economics), and on the development and teaching of tools, techniques, and practice models.

Allyson came to Design Workshop in 2003 and is distinguished for her project management of the redevelopment of the 1,866-acre former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver; the Monarch Mills/Art Houses site landscape; the Denargo Market preliminary redevelopment plan; and RidgeGate development. Allyson graduated with distinction from Harvard Design School, with a Master of Landscape Architecture and also holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College. Allyson is a member of The Architectural League, American Society of Landscape Architects, and the Phillips Exeter Academy Alumni Association.