04/10/2026
Continuing our celebrations, we are highlighting Birmingham Principal Landscape Architect Stephen Schrader, PLA, FASLA. With over 25 years of experience in municipal, institutional, and commercial master planning, landscape design, and construction administration, Stephen brings both technical expertise and a people-first mindset to every project. We asked Stephen to share reflections on his career and what landscape architecture means to him:
What has been your favorite project?
It’s hard to pick a favorite project; I’ve been fortunate to design a wide variety of places during my career so far. The ones that stick with me all have a story: the private garden and pool renovation that had to be finished in time for the rehearsal dinner; the time we had to rework a project to replace a large water main beneath the street we were converting to a pedestrian corridor, but remain within the original budget; the stormwater collection concept the owner loved so much that we had to redesign it into a pair of circulating water features.
What was the greatest challenge you ever encountered on a project?
A few years ago, my team had about 14 months to renovate 7 blocks of the main street in downtown Birmingham. Stakeholders included several City departments, the transit authority, and utility companies. The project had to be finished before the World Games. We didn’t have time to get a survey, so our team documented the existing conditions and prepared plans to renovate the sidewalks and crosswalks. We worked as fast as we could to get the plans out quickly, so there would be time for the construction work. When we assembled the bid package, the contract allowed 200 days to Substantial Completion. Our contractor was amazing. They figured out how to route pedestrian and vehicular traffic to keep businesses accessible, and whenever they encountered something unexpected — you never really know what you’ll find underneath a city street — they were always an active part of figuring out a solution.
What does being an LA mean to you?
Being a landscape architecture is about building community — helping a group of people rally around a vision of the way their world can be and then working with them to make it happen.
