About Us

Coastal Vista Design is a Sanibel-based landscape architecture studio established by Leigh Gevelinger in 2016.

Coastal landscapes are at the heart of the challenges that we face as coastal residents and landscape architects. In Florida – as in many subtropical and tropical regions of the world - development has had a significant influence on the physical environment over the past century. We recognize that we’re not operating under the same conditions as 50, 10, or even 5 years ago. Leigh saw opportunities for a transformative approach to the practice of landscape architecture.

Leigh assembled Coastal Vista to address coastal design challenges through team collaboration and engagement with industry experts.

From its founding, Coastal Vista Design has been revolutionary.

Our vision

Our studio is a space for creative work. Our team address coastal challenges with new perspectives. We kindly interrogate established ways of doing things. We constantly seek out better methods.

We live, work and give in places where humans and ecological thriving rely on water.

Our projects are directly impacted by coastal concerns ( surge / wind / tropical storms and hurricanes 🌪️🌴️ ). We observe and document impacts of coastal disturbances events as they occur - and their lasting impacts.

The time is now for coastal adaptive planning and design.

On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall on Cayo Costa forever altering the landscape of southwest Florida.

The Coastal Vista Design studio on Sanibel suffered 40” plus of storm surge. The CVD server was underwater. Sanibel Island was inaccessible due to the collapse of the Sanibel Lee County Causeway.

Days after Hurricane Ian, Leigh bartered her way onto a pontoon boat and put her triathlon training skills to use to retrieve the company server.

Bike overhead, she was dropped off on the beach, navigated through storm debris and downed power lines, and biked four miles to the office to survey the damage and retrieve the server backup. While the office contents were a total loss, the CVD team became stronger than ever. Through honest communication, hard work and dedication, CVD reopened the Sanibel Studio in December 2023, 15 months following Hurricane Ian.

We learned a lot in those 15 months… most importantly to always check the server backup.

We are a team

Time is our most valuable asset

We sprint at the beginning

We don’t point fingers

If we are not sure, we’ll ask

We don’t put lipstick on pigs

We protect our culture

Clarity is kindness

We are generous

We stay scrappy

Florida ASLA Conferences

CVD consistently present at state ASLA events. In 2023, CVD designers presented “Rising Above Ian” about our studio’s experience weathering the impacts of Hurricane Ian and preparing for coastal adaptation throughout our region. In 2022, Leigh presented as part of a round table panel on Women in Landscape Architecture.

National ASLA Gamechangers

In 2023, Rose Gilson entered the National ASLA Gamechangers competition with a 5-minute video asking landscape architects to advocate for climate justice and equity in land use by recognizing the sacred nature of landscapes. Her presentation was selected as one of the Game-Changing ideas and she presented at the ASLA National Conference in October 2023.

Fish of Sandcap 10k

CVD annually sponsors the FISH of SanCap 10K (2019-present). In 2023, Leigh, Alain and families participated in the event, celebrating the ongoing revitalization of the islands post-Ian.

Academic Contributions

CVD consistently contribute to education in our field. We participate in design critiques and portfolio reviews for multiple landscape architecture programs including Florida International University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Kansas State University, University of Oregon, & Texas A&M. CVD designers also regularly teach courses at Florida International University & University of Oregon.