Jeffrey Poor

Partner, Studio Director

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Jeffrey Poor brings more than 20 years of experience in the conceptualization, formulation and implementation of sustainable and compelling site design to Starr Whitehouse. His award-winning work spans a wide range of project scales and types, and consistently contributes creative solutions to the challenges faced in the implementation of sustainable design. Beginning with his work in New York’s Central Park, Poor’s interest in environmental, social and aesthetic considerations dovetailed neatly with the foundational design framework of the Greensward Plan. His work for the Central Park Conservancy emphasized the use of natural materials, native plant communities, and the creative treatment of stormwater. In projects such as the Great Lawn, Harlem Meer, North Meadow, and the Reconstruction of the West Side, Poor, in collaboration with Laura Starr, transformed the landscape and reinvigorated the Park’s ideals of social and environmental stewardship through the implementation of sustainable design practices long before the term gained its present currency.

Such innovations have become a staple of Poor’s career. For the Wildlife Conservation Society, Poor oversaw the design and implementation of an environmental restoration project along the Bronx River. The project restored portions of the riverbank, captured, detained and polished stormwater and implemented a graphic signage system explaining the hydrologic cycle as a public education resource.

As Partner and Studio Director at Starr Whitehouse, Poor plays a lead role in making the design team’s vision a reality. His experience and technical mastery weave together diverse and often competing variables into fully integrated and innovative design solutions, resulting in successful and memorable spaces. His forward-thinking design with Stephen Whitehouse for the Bronx River House in Starlight Park employs landscape and horticultural strategies to mitigate heat loads through controlled evapotranspiration using a layered green wall. In another collaboration with Whitehouse, his DEP Maintenance Facility design introduces stormwater retention swales within the public right of way to capture and polish roof runoff for use in maintenance operations, an innovation that would later be incorporated into the DEP’s manual of best practices.