Braden Drypolcher, RLA Founder, Dry Landscape Architecture

I started Dry Landscape Architecture because I believed something simple: that the design process should be genuinely fun, and that the measure of good landscape architecture is whether it actually gets built.

Before founding the firm, I spent several years as a project manager at Kyle Zick Landscape Architecture in Boston, a firm known throughout New England for thoughtful work on parks, trails, historic landscapes, and ecologically sensitive sites. Working at that scale, on complex public and institutional projects across the region, gave me a foundation in what it actually takes to move a project from concept to construction: navigating permitting, managing stakeholder relationships, writing buildable documents, and staying honest about the constraints that turn good ideas into real places.

I founded Dry Landscape Architecture to bring that same hands-on approach to Maine and the region. Based in Biddeford, a city in the middle of its own reinvention, I work directly with municipalities, housing developers, and community organizations on the public spaces, parks, and neighborhoods that shape everyday life. It is the kind of work I find most meaningful: designing places at the scale of the street, the block, and the park that people actually use.

How I work

Every project starts with a close read of the site and its context. I integrate ecological function, constructability, and placemaking from the earliest stages of design, not as separate considerations but as a single discipline. That means stormwater is also a park feature. A housing site plan is also a neighborhood edge. A permitting strategy is also a design decision.

I collaborate closely with civil engineers, architects, municipal staff, and community members to keep projects moving and grounded. The goal is always the same: environments that perform, endure, and connect people to the places they live.

Background

Braden holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design and a degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Rhode Island. He is a licensed landscape architect in Maine and New Hampshire and has practiced throughout New England.