This company brings together two of the country’s leading New Urbanists to offer an expanded set of smart zoning, design, planning, and facilitation services to communities, developers, and property owners.  Hall Alminana addresses the future design of communities, providing livable and intelligent alternatives to auto-oriented sprawl.

Laura Hall, Principal
Referred to as “[A]cclaimed CNU facilitator” by the editors of New Urban News, Laura Hall has brought divided communities to consensus visions for over 10 years.  Her studies at the University of California, Berkeley, which resulted in an M.A. in Landscape Architecture, introduced her to a wide variety of humanistic approaches to community planning, which she has continued to expand and develop.  As principal with Fisher & Hall Urban Design for 10 years, she guided the Petaluma, California, community to the first adopted SmartCode in the United States, the Central Petaluma SmartCode.  Hall also headed the Fisher & Hall design team for the rebuilding and renewal efforts for the City of Pass Christian, Mississippi in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed it.  Robert Alminana was Project Architect on both of these projects.

Robert Alminana, Principal
Robert Alminana, most recently the Director of Town Planning and Director of Operations with HDR Town Planning, has an M.A. in Architecture from the University of Miami.  Fluent in English, Spanish, and French, Alminana has organized, managed, and participated in a diverse range of master planning, form-based coding, and architectural projects ranging in size from 100-700 acres in North America and Europe.  Mr. Alminana also led the HDR Town Planning design team for the Katrina-stricken City of Gulfport, Mississippi that resulted in a citywide SmartCode.  The Gulfport SmartCode was honored with the Inaugural Driehaus Form-Based Codes Award from the Form-Based Codes Institute.  Laura Hall was Community Facilitator for this project.

Additional Company Information
In addition to town planning, design, and coding, the principals of Hall Alminana are also involved in writing, teaching, and statewide planning activities.  Mr. Alminana co-authored The New Civic Art, Elements of Town Planning (Rizzoli, New York, Oct. 2003) with Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk.  Hall and Alminana are both contributing editors of SmartCode and Manual (New Urban Publications). 

Hall and Alminana were co-authors on a White Paper for the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research in 2003 that resulted in the language for Assembly Bill 1268.  This bill, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in July 2004 after the measure was approved unanimously by the legislature, explicitly states that form-based codes are legal in California.

Summary
Hall Alminana provides a humanistic approach to planning and design that is innovative yet respectful of time-honored precedents. The right combination of talent, experience, and leadership at Hall Alminana ensures that projects will be walkable, that community processes will be kind and equitable, and that communities and developers alike will realize the benefits.