After Shane Coen's Death, Coen+Partners Doubles Down

Coen+Partners has more than doubled in size since 2019 — roughly 45 employees now — even after the death of founder Shane Coen in 2025 at age 61. Three partners now run the Minneapolis landscape architecture firm: Thomas Doyle, Robin Ganser, and McKenzie Wilhelm. They are backed by seven directors and a staff spread across Minneapolis, Riyadh, and remote offices in Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York.

"Shane was a presence, and he is missed," Doyle told AN. "But from an operations and design-ethos standpoint, we are continuing the mission."

That mission rests on what the firm calls "contextual minimalism" — also the title of its 2018 monograph. Coen cofounded the office as Coen+Stumpf in Minneapolis in 1992. Early work included the Elliot Park revitalization in Minneapolis and the St. Francis Peace Garden at St. Mary's Hospital, Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota. In 2000, ownership transitioned to Coen and the firm became Coen+Partners. By 2019 it had almost 20 employees.

The succession was planned. Ganser said the firm underwent an "ownership transition back in 2022," and the partners became equal owners in 2023. In 2024 they split the office into three specialized studios. The goal now: break into the global market, led by projects such as Sports Boulevard in Riyadh, and expand the scale and scope of the work the firm can take on.

The Riyadh work signals a distinct ambition. Wilhelm said the firm's partners in Riyadh "have big ambition that is truly both context and landscape led. [Riyadh] is not interested in becoming the next Dubai, focused on shiny buildings."

"They're focused on leaning into their roots in Najdi culture and the desert and understanding what it means to create a sustainable landscape in a place where planting is difficult and shade is important," she elaborated.

Sports Boulevard, Riyadh — Ongoing

Riyadh is a city of 8 million people. Coen+Partners, collaborating with Typsa and El Dorado, is converting a high-voltage power corridor through the heart of the metropolis into Sports Boulevard — billed as the "world's longest linear park" — to increase access to civic amenities.

"It was a major infrastructure corridor that cut off neighborhoods from one another," Doyle said.

The boulevard measures approximately 77 miles, almost 19 of them within Riyadh. "The project will be a "game changer for quality of life here," Doyle continued. The $23 billion project, led by the Sports Boulevard Foundation, forms part of Saudi Vision 2030 — a $3 trillion national program slated for completion in 2030. One related project, Red Sands Sports Park, adds cycling tracks to a nearby desert landscape.

The Shenandoah, Virginia — Ongoing

Closer to home, Coen+Partners is collaborating with Olson Kundig and Marlon Blackwell Architects on a 640-acre site in Star Tannery, Virginia, about one hour west of Washington, D.C. Founded by Mike Marburg of Wellmore Partners, The Shenandoah will be a wellness and hospitality center with 120 guest rooms, a spa, and additional facilities spread across a dozen single- and two-story buildings.

Ninety percent of the site sits under conservation easement. The landscape takes a "choreographed approach," Ganser said; "bridges of intention" lead visitors to a "clearing in the woods" where the centralized campus sits.

"We're thinking about vistas and moments, trying to capture the true majesty of the land," Ganser said.

Crystal Bridges, Arkansas — 2025

Wilhelm led the landscape architecture for a 114,000-square-foot expansion of Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas, completed in 2025. The museum opened in 2010 with a design by Safdie Architects; the expansion grew the institution's footprint by approximately 50 percent.

A ravine now cuts through the verdant campus, and elevated bridges stitch buildings together for egress and to strengthen the connection between inside and outside.

"The landscape isn't separate from the museum," Wilhelm said. "We spent so much time at the site, getting to know the landscape of the Ozarks. There was so much coordination [with Safdie Architects], all the way down to the technical details and materials."

Peavey Plaza, Minneapolis — 2019

The firm's rehabilitation record runs deep. Landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg completed Peavey Plaza in 1975; the sunken "conversation pit" gathering space is considered the "living room" of downtown Minneapolis. When Coen+Partners was tapped to rehabilitate the plaza in 2016, "we inherited a political minefield," Ganser said.

"Preservationists didn't want it touched, and the Downtown Council said, 'We need this space to be safer, more accessible, and highly programmable,'" he recalled.

During a 12-month design process, the firm held over 50 community meetings — typically "more than one a week," Ganser said. The result won recognition from the Cultural Landscape Foundation and others for weaving historic preservation with modern needs.

After more than a quarter century in business and the loss of its founder, Coen+Partners remains dedicated to making public spaces informed by community input that never compromise on aesthetics. With Sports Boulevard underway and studios restructured for specialized work, the firm is positioned to test whether contextual minimalism can scale to a $23 billion desert corridor.