THE FOUNDATION
The Franke:Franke partnership was shaped by movement—across regions, disciplines, and scales. Years spent living, working, teaching, and learning in diverse places eventually led us home to Austin and our Texas roots. What we carried back with us were not styles or formulas, but ways of seeing. The places, people, and projects that shaped those early explorations remain at the heart of our practice.
We learned to question assumptions, to listen before acting, and to let each project tell us what it wants to become. Each project grows from its specific landscape, culture, and purpose—resulting in work that is expressive, thoughtful, and deeply rooted in place.
COMMUNICATION
Good Design starts with a Conversation
We take time to listen intently and understand our clients—their goals, aspirations, and how they imagine living or working in a place. At the same time, we ‘listen’ to the site itself: its physical form, enviornmental processes, and history.
From this dual dialogue, ideas emerge with clarity and intention. We maintain an open, ongoing conversation from first sketch through construction, creating a collaborative process built on trust. The result is design that feels aligned, purposeful, and unmistakably individual.
ART AND DESIGN
No Boundaries
We see no boundary between art and design. Both arise from curiosity, exploration, and a desire to shape meaningful experience.
Through material, craft, site, and vision, architecture and landscape begin to interweave and inform one another. These intersections allow new ideas to surface—spaces that are purposeful and poetic.
Our work often becomes more than buildings or landscapes alone. It becomes livable art—environments shaped for movement, discovery, delight, and the quiet rituals and rhythms of daily life.
SUSTAINABLE MATTERS
Sustainability is not an Add-on.
Sustainability begins with intention. Early in each project, we define clear goals for building and site performance—measurable, purposeful, and grounded in building science. With these guideposts in place, we weave passive and active strategies into the design that elevates experience and creates environments that endure with resilience and timelessness.
BIG IDEAS TO SMALL DETAILS
Every project is guided by a central idea—broad enough to invite possibility, precise enough to inform every detail. As the work unfolds, each decision reinforces the whole. From sweeping gestures to the smallest moments, intention is carried throughout, shaping buildings, landscapes, and places that feel coherent, crafted, and alive.
RIDING THE LAST MILE TOGETHER
Twenty-five years in the Saddle
For more than two decades, our clients have trusted us to ride alongside them—from first concept through final clean. What began as occasional requests to manage construction has grown into a sustained commitment to an integrated design and delivery process.
Today, we continue to offer comprehensive design and planning services, following projects into the field to ensure that design intent and qualities are fully realized. In 2024, the Franke:Franke partners formed Van Hoose + O’Glee, a stand-alone design-build company created to support clients seeking a single, continuous partnership—from initial concept through completion of construction.
If you are looking for a team that stays present, accountable, and invested every step of the way, we’d love to talk. Get in touch, and let’s see what we can make together.
The Founders
Tim Franke
Texas Landscape Architect No. 2060
Tim Franke is a landscape architect and planner with more than 40 years of experience shaping resilient, culturally grounded landscapes. He has held professional licenses in California, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas, and his work centers on integrating natural systems—rainwater harvesting, stormwater management, and native landscape restoration—into thoughtful, people-focused design. His approach begins with a deep understanding of place and the relationships between land, culture, and community.
Tim earned his BS in Landscape Architecture from Texas A&M University and a Master of Landscape Architecture with Distinction from Harvard University. At Harvard, he received the Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship, which allowed him to study community form and landscape ecology in the arid regions of the southwestern United States and central Mexico. He also studied at the École Nationale Supérieure du Paysage in Versailles, France, through a Harvard Penny White Scholarship, expanding his exploration of landscape and planning as expressions of culture, politics, and power.
Tim’s professional background includes teaching and directing the Master of Architecture in Urban Design program at Washington University’s School of Architecture. His work spans large-scale preservation and development planning, mixed-use and master-planned communities, public and private landscapes, and residential gardens.
Outside of his professional work, Tim is a lifelong saltwater sportfisherman, a SCUBA diver, and a slow—but determined—rower.
Elizabeth C. Franke
Texas Architect No. 17450
Elizabeth C. Franke brings four decades of architectural practice to her role as Principal Architect and founding partner of Franke:Franke. Licensed in Texas, California, Georgia, and Missouri throughout her career, Elizabeth leads the firm’s design direction and oversees the development of every project in the studio.
Her award-winning work is grounded in a deep knowledge of construction; materials, methods, and processes, allowing her to shape design solutions that are conceptually strong, technically rigorous, and deeply responsive to people and place.
Elizabeth earned her Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University and her Master of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin. Before co-founding Franke:Franke, she worked as a team designer with a nationally acclaimed architecture firm and contributed to projects that include corporate headquarters, major office developments, parks, and new town centers.
Outside the office, Elizabeth is an avid cyclist and outdoor enthusiast.