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His work is rooted in his passion for plants, inspired by architecture and setting, and designed to function, mature and age fluidly with the structures, land and people it serves.

 

This passion began very early in life. The O'Connor family home in Connecticut where he was raised was amply suited to foster his horticultural interests and experimentation, with its rolling grounds, greenhouse and wooded acreage. Yet far from being his sole interest, Patrick went on to explore a wide range of other creative interests; first in college, then occupationally.

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Along a winding quest of self-discovery, Patrick found himself in work roles and industries which added to the lore of his experience. Remarkable highlights included teaching English in Brazil, stage performance with a national touring ensemble, newspaper editorial and print advertising sales in San Francisco, and executive administration at the Sony Pictures Entertainment studio in Los Angeles.

 

A chance opportunity to design the private residential landscape of a Sony colleague served as the initial spark, and provided a vital discovery. From this opportunity, he had found a design medium which was uniquely suited to his creativity, utilized the core of his knowledge and technical skills and could be applied  to a discipline which encompassed horticulture, architecture and spatial configuration: landscape design.

 

He blazed this potential new career path with great zeal, and in 2000, founded Zone Ten, a design-build practice originally based in Los Angeles. Later he was hired by a national building materials company to spearhead introduction of its green roof product line and design technology in a then-emergent Latin American green building market.

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In 2012, following coursework in landscape architecture at UCLA Extension he relaunched his sole practice in Long Beach, California. There, he continued residential project work and expanded his constituency, leading to commercial and civic work as well as fluency in designing landscapes for tropical, arid, Gulf coast, and Mediterranean climates.

 

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