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Is there tension between the ideal and the pragmatic in a design and construction process? The positioning of the house is perfectly fitted to the landscape features.
LANDSCAPE ARCH RENDERING SERIES
Otherwise, there would have been a series of steps and stairways down to the patio level. Now the owners will be able to walk straight out of the house onto the patios and swimming pool beyond. If not for Howard’s input and grading plan, the house would have related to the site in a completely different way. We took out a ton of dirt and lowered the elevation of this house by four feet because of the landscape architect’s advice. He helps with the decisions about what to keep and what to take away for the overall good of the project.Īrjay: Here’s an example. Howard brings an aesthetic sense to that process. Typically, a civil engineer will site the house. Howard has been particularly helpful before I’ve even begun designing a house in terms of an ideal location and budget considerations on a difficult site. You need them to walk the land and site the house. But feedback from the landscape architect is critical at the preliminary stage. Tom: The residential architect always takes the lead on the design and in interpreting the clients’ desires. How does the landscape architect contribute? There is a lot of pressure to hit your benchmarks in the custom home building process because everything is tied to a schedule. That can be tough on the owner because they’ve got to stay one step ahead and keep up with the decision making process. They don’t want to spend time with an extensive up-front planning process. If they’ve got a construction loan on a property, the clock is ticking. And you really can’t blame them for that. (Why not?) The owner drives the whole process and most of the time they are in a hurry. Everybody agrees this is how it should be done, but nobody does it. These are important decisions that can make or break whether the client decides to purchase a property.Īrjay West: It is never too early to identify your whole team and get them all together in a room. We might reconsider the placement of the house if that tree is important to the client. The landscape architect will point out assets on the site such as views to emphasize or a specimen tree worth keeping. Other times, I will bring in the LA, very early on-at the point where the client is evaluating a lot for purchase. Tom Flach: In a straightforward situation we may start without a landscape architect. When building a custom home, what’s the ideal time to bring the landscape architect into the planning process? We particularly wanted to know how the landscape architect contributes in the early stages of design when the home must be sited on the property. We asked residential architect Tom Flach and homebuilder Arjay West to talk about how collaboration affects the flow of construction and the eventual outcome of the project. The project landscape architect is Howard Cohen of Surrounds. The home design is by Kohlmark Architects of Burke with construction and project management by Arjay West of Falls Church. The home design and landscape design can be integrated entirely to make the best possible use of the site for vistas and indoor/outdoor flow.Ī custom home building project in Oakton Virginia is a good example of the collaborative design and construction process. And that helps the designers to bring out the fullest expression of the homeowner’s wishes. A collaborative approach makes the best possible use of time and money. Is there a significant benefit to a homeowner when the residential architect, landscape architect, and homebuilder meet early in the design and planning phase of your new custom home? Yes. Collaboration In Landscape Design & Custom Home Design Integrated design of landscape and home makes the most of all aspects of the property