Since its founding in 1983, the firm has developed particular expertise in two areas: reclamation of neglected or abandoned sites for public occupation, often on waterfronts or in urban cores; and campus master planning and open space design. In all projects the firm’s work centers on planning and design that is specific to a site including its historical context, its natural processes and the uses aspired to for that site. The firm’s work embodies a commitment to ‘civic’ vitality and creative solutions that meld cultural desires, functional needs and the location.

The firm's work has earned more than two dozen national awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects, numerous international awards, and appeared in publications throughout the world. Hargreaves Associates has offices in San Francisco; California; Cambridge; Massachusetts; and New York City. The firm employs seven principals, four senior associates, eight associates, and thirty five other full-time professionals.

Several significant projects include: participation on the winning team for the World Trade Center Site Competition in New York City; the Olympics 2000 in Sydney, Australia; the Native American Museum in Oklahoma City; the Louisville Waterfront Park in Louisville, Kentucky; University Commons and Campus Green at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio; Guadalupe River Park in San Jose, California; Crissy Field in San Francisco; Grant Park Framework Plan in Chicago, Illinois; General Motors Global Headquarters Riverfront Promenade and Plaza in Detroit, Michigan; and Chattanooga 21st Century Waterfront Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee.