Shared Values
When there is a real connection between the designer and the installation crew on the ground, everyone on the project knows and understands the design characteristics that the company abides by. This connection is more likely to exist in a true design-build firm. At True Scape Design, for instance, we adhere to strict standards around hard-lines, flush faces, and straight edges. It’s important to us on the Landscape Architecture side to understand what it takes to actually install something. Many Registered Landscape Architects and firms can miss this aspect of the total project.
Shared Knowledge
If the designer understands what it takes to install a feature, where to procure the materials, which plants grow locally, and what may or may not work in the field, they’re able to put together a design that won’t require much revision. It increases the influence, reliability, and validity of each design.
We know that everything we specify in our designs is available locally. This makes the end process easier on our clients and ourselves when we execute the installation. Our people in the field know the language used in our designs, and understand what matters most in them. This common knowledge and understanding between the designer and the builders helps to ensure that the elements go in flawlessly.
Working Together
“Synergy” is an overused word these days. In the realm of design/build landscape architecture firms, it’s really just a fancy way of saying that we work together. Our system makes each component of the process better than either would have been on its own. Through collaboration between our landscape architects and our installation crew, we mine for conflict around what can make each design and installation process better. We focus on what we learn and what we love about each project we work on, so we can take it forward to the next.