FIRM
SCOTT L. HOWARD
PLA, FASLA, CLARB, LEED AP
SCOTT W. FAIRBAIRN
PLA, ASLA (Retired)
As the founding Principal of HFSD, Scott Howard has created a firm known for its design creativity and ability to get projects built on time and on budget. He has extensive design experience, having worked for more than 35 years on many of the successful and notable projects in the Oklahoma City metro area. Scott’s expertise is in the design of outdoor spaces that enhance human interaction with nature and the environment, improving quality of life experiences. His focus is to develop landscapes that are sustainable, durable, useable and realistic in regard to maintainability.
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Scott is a 1985 graduate of Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture. After working for several years in the nursery industry, he became licensed to practice Landscape Architecture in the State of Oklahoma. He is also licensed in Texas, Arkansas and Colorado. Scott has been CLARB certified since 2001, he earned his LEED AP accreditation in 2009, and in 2021 he was elevated into the American Society of Landscape Architects Council of Fellows—the highest honor given in the landscape architecture profession.
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Scott founded the firm of Howard Site Design, Inc. in 1988, and later added a partner in 1995 (changing the name to Howard-Fairbairn Site Design, Inc). The firm has continually evolved (now known as HFSD, Inc.) and has produced a legacy of improving the landscape around Oklahoma City. Scott has been a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects since 1988 and was President of the Oklahoma Chapter in 1999. He is still involved with the chapter and has served two terms as a National Trustee, representing Oklahoma.
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Scott is active in the Oklahoma City community, having served as a Board Member for Oklahoma City Beautiful from 1999-2008, Vice-Chairman on the Oklahoma City Arts Commission from 2008-2014, and has held several positions on the Oklahoma Board of Architects, Landscape Architects and Registered Interior Designers, including Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and currently Secretary-Treasurer (2024). Additionally, Scott is a current committee member of the Riverfront Design Committee for The City of Oklahoma City.
As Principal, Scott provides design and production leadership in a diversity of projects. He has extensive experience in comprehensive master planning and project construction documentation. Experience includes comprehensive master planning, site planning, and hardscape/softscape design. Prior to joining HFSD, Scott Fairbairn worked for fourteen-years a multidisciplinary architectural and engineering firm, where he developed a valuable foundation in multi-disciplinary design projects from base comprehensive plans to commercial, office, and academic site planning projects.
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Scott is a 1981 graduate of Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture. He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects-1981. He has previously served as Treasurer and is currently President for the Oklahoma Chapter.
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Scott is a member of the West Oklahoma City Rotary Club and has served at several club positions, including President in 2009-2010.
NICK FAIRLESS
PLA, ASLA
After graduating from the Oklahoma State University School of Landscape Architecture in 2008, Nick's career has taken him from Oklahoma to the Middle East and many places in between. His extensive portfolio spans from a wide variety of projects types, scales, and geographical locations, including residential design, international resort planning, site specific design, urban design, and community planning.
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Inspired by nature and the process of design Nick began his career at an international design firm located in Fort Lauderdale, FL. During his time spent there he worked on projects located in Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and South Florida. Since 2010 he has been practicing with Howard-Fairbairn Site Design, now as a licensed landscape architect. He is driven to take clients' visions from concept through construction. Nick seeks inspiration from his outdoor adventures which have helped to shape his creative capabilities, work ethic, and ability to focus at the task at hand. He strives to constantly learn, evolve, and grow as a professional at HFSD and is on a mission to manipulate the landscape in innovative and environmentally sound ways.
SCOTT HOBSON
SR. LANDSCAPE DESIGN ASSOCIATE
Scott Hobson is a 1996 landscape architecture graduate of Oklahoma State University. Scott brings a history of more than 25 years of experience in the profession of landscape architecture and experience nationally in such states as Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Scott has a varied and diverse palette of project experience and has primarily been involved working on medium to large scale Commercial, Military, Educational, Public, Municipal, and Residential project applications within the Midwest.
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Scott began his career in Wichita, Kansas practicing with a large multidisciplinary architectural firm where he gained vital experience in the areas of construction documentation, design, coordination of disciplines, and client relationships. During these first few years as an intern landscape architect, Scott learned valuable lessons in project management through all phases of the design, construction, and the completion of a project.
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Scott has been practicing with HFSD for 20 years where he serves as a project designer and manager focusing on modern and traditional landscape design plantings, native landscape plantings, sustainable design, and hardscape design applications, with an additional emphasis on irrigation design, effective water use, and water conservation techniques. During his time at HFSD, he has enhanced and broadened his landscape design style, irrigation design, construction documentation, and project supervision while becoming a cohesive part of a growing HFSD team.