Landscape Design Consulting
Updated: Aug 24
Company Profile: Landscape Design Consulting, or LDC, designs visionary landscapes through thoughtful integration of water, stone, and plants. LDC's president, Sean Walters, is a professional landscape architect with decades of multidisciplinary experience informing the unique ability to view a project through multiple lenses simultaneously. This enables Sean to function as a single point of contact across all relevant variables, thereby cultivating the holistic methodology on which sustainable practice is based. LDC blends art and science - while using constraints as a platform for innovative thinking - to curate enduring landscapes that connect people to place by blurring the line between architecture and nature.
Design Philosophy: Landscape Design Consulting draws inspiration, in part, from Japanese Gardens - where every element is intentional, and the boundary between built and natural environments dissolves. Our approach begins from thirty thousand feet, concurrently developing every facet of an owner’s program across fully-integrated landscape systems. Landscape Design Consulting approaches design in much the same manner that a composer harmonizes many distinct voices into a cohesive and balanced symphony.
Sustainability: Responsible landscape design should promote the health of the environmental and ecological systems that sustain us. Landscape Design Consulting balances built and natural interests through a holistic design approach that maximizes the comfort of the built environment while mitigating environmental disturbance. An often overlooked dimension of sustainability is human engagement: people care for what they find beautiful. Truly sustainable landscapes, therefore, must inspire stewardship through beauty, as well as functionality.
The Process: Landscape architecture is a methodology through which an owner's program, or intended use and requirements for a space, is refined in accordance with the unique drivers shaping each project. The concurrent development of interconnected program elements is fostered through the architectural process where drawings, drafted in a universal language, are created for use by other consultants and for bidding, permitting, and construction. The following services are structured to facilitate this process; it should be noted that not all projects require all steps, but some steps - like Research & Discovery - are required for all projects.
1. Research & Discovery (R&D): Zoning and building code is researched to ascertain any relevance and potential impact on the project. Landscape Design Consulting uses this information, along with on-site observations tailored around the owner's program, to prepare and send a Request for Proposal (RFP) to a licensed land surveyor for a topographic survey. Upon receipt of the survey, Landscape Design Consulting creates a base sheet - or scaled drawing - showing existing features and relevant zoning restrictions. The base sheet serves as the foundation for all subsequent work.
2. Concept Plan (CP): The design phase begins with a preliminary CP that illustrates existing and proposed features in compliance with zoning and building code. The CP reflects a general level of detail from a zoomed-out perspective, and provides a framework for owner review and discussion. Once completed, the CP forms the basis for all subsequent work.
3. Working Drawings (WD): Working drawings are technical documents that translate a finished design into multiple languages required for bidding, permitting, and construction. They include detailed information on zoning compliancy, existing and proposed conditions, layout and grading, planting and lighting, and construction details.
4. Regulatory Services (RS): Notwithstanding our ability to mitigate jurisdictional involvement in our projects, Landscape Design Consulting can shepherd our clients' interests through the regulatory minefield by coordinating our services with other consultants, preparing and submitting applications, and speaking at agency meetings.
5. Contract Administration (CA): Upon Owner request, LDC will provide CA and project management services such as obtaining and qualifying bids; scheduling and attending meetings; coordinating services across entities; hand-selecting materials and assisting with layout in the field; and general project correspondence.
6. Additional Services (AS): AS are tailored to each contract and typically encompass work resulting from conditions that were hidden or unknown at the time LDC and an Owner enter their agreement, as well as work in excess of what is carried in the contract.
