Today the firm's leadership team, comprised of partners Scott Baker and Melani Smith, carries the firm forward in new directions, while remaining rooted in three core, enduring firm values: context, people, and impact. We seek to understand the physical, social, cultural, historic, environmental and economic dimensions of the places in which we work. We are keenly aware of and connected into the regulatory and political contexts within the communities in which we design. We evaluate places' functions and activities, and keep our focus on the people who live, work and play in them. We engage and communicate with the communities in which we work, in multiple languages, and using a range of location-specific methods. We believe that high quality inspired planning, landscape architecture and urban design can create tremendous value for clients and end-users. Our goal is to create memorable places that are timeless and precious assets to the communities in which they exist. Today, as part of the invigorated Downtown Los Angeles design community, our staff of 21 landscape architects, urban planners and urban designers engages clients at a high level and collaborates to identify and implement the most appropriate solution. The breadth of our services, from upstream vision, policy, and planning at regional, community and neighborhood scales, through to site specific design and construction administration, enables us to bring a broad view, as well as a reality check, to each assignment we undertake. Fundamentally, our landscape architecture work is fueled and driven by our clear and consistent process, rather than a focus on landscape style. While our process is our own, our success depends upon not only our own discipline, but also on our skills as communicators and collaborators. Successful places are the result of high-level integration among owner, users, architects, engineers and designers. This grounding has resulted in Meléndrez participating in many high profile, catalytic projects that have had a significant impact on the region, including the Vdara Hotel & Spa at cityCenter, Metro Gold Line, Staples Center and LA Live!, Del Mar Station, and Old Town Pasadena Streetscapes and Alley Walkways.