FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2025
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — Benesch, a leading engineering, design, and planning firm, has licensed a workshop by Liberty House Plans for use nationwide. The workshop, called “Zoned Out,” uses scale models and carefully designed gameplay to help communities visualize the gap between the future they want to see and the neighborhood that is possible under a given development code.
Benesch’s new license allows the firm’s planning team to deploy Zoned Out quickly and easily throughout the U.S. Together with the license, Benesch will maintain a kit of more than 130 scale models produced by Liberty House Plans. The models represent a variety of traditional building types designed by award-winning firms, such as Architect Bruce B. Tolar; David T. Kim, Architect; Geoffrey Mouen, Architect; Historic Shed; Sommer Design Studios; Thompson Placemaking; and Artifex. With the scale models, participants build a model neighborhood and choose where they would live… until a facilitator in the role of public official throws a wrench in their plans.
“We’ve used scale models in workshops with residents, city officials, and real estate developers alike,” says Jennifer Krouse, CEO of Liberty House Plans. “The scale models touch people in a way that turns the workshop from an abstract exercise into an exploration of a real locale. We’ve seen participants lower their phones among the miniature homes to take street-view snapshots of the place they designed. It’s electric.”
Benesch has already hosted a version of Zoned Out under the new license, in a session of the Florida Housing Commission’s statewide conference that took place in Orlando. Whit Blanton, Executive Director of Forward Pinellas, participated. “The game and its pieces are amazing,” he said. “They are helpful tools that increase understanding for communities interested in reforming their zoning and development codes.”
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About Liberty House Plans:
Liberty House Plans brings ready-made architectural plans by award-winning architects within reach of homebuilders, families, and municipalities so they can make their dream homes and neighborhoods real. The company’s Services division supports good placecraft via development services and planning workshops. Visit https://bit.ly/city-planning-workshops to learn more.
Contact: Jennifer Krouse
Founder & CEO
347-201-2347
jen[at]libertyhouseplans.com