groundcubed opens first U.S. studio in Coeur d’Alene
A Western Canada design firm has planted its first U.S. flag in downtown Coeur d’Alene, betting Kootenai County’s growth will keep civic and park work flowing.
groundcubed has opened its first U.S.-based studio in Coeur d’Alene, formalizing its American operations from a suite at 118 N 7th Street. The June 9 launch gives the Western Canada landscape architecture, urban design and planning firm a local base for work it says will serve the Inland Northwest.
The Coeur d’Alene office is led by Mike Light, PLA, ASLA, a groundcubed principal and landscape architect who has been with the company for nearly a decade. Light previously worked for the City of Spokane Parks & Recreation Division, a background that fits the studio’s focus on public realm design, civic projects and state park infrastructure.
groundcubed says the new studio will also support low-impact development projects and connect U.S. clients with municipal and regulatory coordination, CAD, Revit and BIM-informed delivery, sustainability-focused design, culturally sensitive Indigenous work and relationship-centered leadership. That mix points to projects that sit at the intersection of design, permitting and public investment, rather than one-off private jobs.
The company now describes itself as working across Western Canada and the Inland Northwest U.S., and its website lists studio locations in Coeur d’Alene, Calgary, Edmonton and Canmore. The Coeur d’Alene address, Suite B12 at 118 N 7th Street, makes the local operation a permanent foothold rather than a temporary project office.
The timing lands in a county that continues to absorb steady growth. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Kootenai County’s population at 188,323 on July 1, 2024 and 191,864 on July 1, 2025, a 12.0% increase from the 2020 census base. The county also had an estimated 86,151 housing units, a median owner-occupied housing value of $518,700 and 1,705 building permits in 2025.
That pressure has made planning and infrastructure expertise more valuable in Coeur d’Alene and the rest of Kootenai County. The city adopted its 2022-2042 Comprehensive Plan on Feb. 15, 2022, and by Dec. 8, 2025, Kootenai County, Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Post Falls and Rathdrum were updating Areas of Impact that guide future growth.
For local business watchers, groundcubed’s arrival reads as a confidence signal: outside firms are seeing enough public-sector work, development pressure and long-term planning demand to justify a staffed office downtown.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
