Liam P. O’Connell, a registered landscape architect whose credits include work on the reconstruction of his alma mater, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, died Friday, May 24, following a long illness. He was 52.
A resident of West Roxbury, and formerly of Sudbury, Liam served 20 years as a planner and landscape architect for the Boston firm Brown Sardina Inc. He had previously worked four years at multi-disciplinary firm HNTB in Boston, assisting on planning, design, documentation and construction for projects in the transportation sector.
At Brown Sardina, Liam was responsible for detail design, design documentation and construction administration for a large number of projects in the Boston area and around the world. His work included landscape design projects for colleges and universities, public schools, healthcare facilities, residential communities and civic projects.
In 2001 Liam took on a project close to his heart – site work on a new campus at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, the institution from which he had graduated in 1985. The $73 million project replaced aging facilities with new construction on the same site. The new school complex opened prior to the 2004-2005 academic year.
Brown Sardina developed the planning and site design for the new campus’ school buildings, community areas, plazas and parks, all in compliance with wetlands regulations. Liam contributed to the design work and acted as the lead representative for the firm in meetings with local boards and school personnel.
Liam executed designs for the Lisa Barth Interfaith Chapel Garden, a meditative and spiritual space at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. The design he helped to fulfill was informed by input from spiritual leaders and hospital stakeholders. It features a curving walkway, an interactive tapered stone fountain, sculptured wood benches and an array of magnolia, redbud, crape myrtle and sculptural pine trees. He also played a significant role on other projects for Xavier University, the University of Michigan, public schools throughout New England, and sites in China, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Brazil.
Liam grew up in Sudbury and attended Sudbury public schools. He moved on to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in landscape architecture. He also studied at the University of Sheffield in Sheffield, England.
He was a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Liam is survived by his wife, Feng Yang; their daughter, Sophie O’Connell; his parents, Dorothy and Shaun O’Connell; his brother and sister-in-law, Michael and Patricia O’Connell; his sister, Kathleen O’Connell; his sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Nan Yang and Fei Liu; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Hua Yang and Yi Gong; and his nieces and nephews, Angela and Niall O’Connell, Seamus and Stella Rudolph, Shawn and Tom Liu, and Tianyi Yang.
There will be a private service for family and close friends.