People often ask, “Is Ironwood Design Group busy in the winter?” The answer to that inquiry is always an emphatic “Yes!”
This January we are hunkered down in the office moving our clients’ projects forward:
Master Plans
Master planning entails an analysis of a land parcel and creation of a plan for its optimal use according to the desired programming. For a residential or institutional client this might include site placement of buildings and vehicular circulation, walking paths and trails, pools and water features, gardens of all types, patios, and scenic lookouts. A property master plan is usually delivered as an attractive rendered drawing indicating layout of amenities.
Conceptual Designs
A conceptual design is a high-level design or plan for a land parcel. We will often provide a client with more than one concept from which to choose. At the conceptual design phase, we help our clients select the desired plant materials, building materials, and amenity styles. Some clients ask for cost estimates at this point, so they can budget their project.
Final Designs
A final design includes plans and detailed specifications necessary to construct a particular landscape architectural design. At this stage, after all the design decisions have been made, we often provide a cost estimate for final design implementation.
Contractor Bidding
Whether the project is for a public or private client, we are often asked to put projects out to bid and to select cost competitive contractors. We find the sweet spot for these particular tasks is mid January-early March. As such we find ourselves very busy this time of year completing specifications and other documentation for projects that will start construction when the weather turns mild.
Construction Supervision
We often supervise project construction to ensure that our clients’ final designs are implemented as specified in the final design construction documents. It’s true we don’t supervise much work during New England winters. Plant materials cannot be installed and cold outdoor temperatures prohibit laying concrete and asphalt.
So for those of you who were wondering, we are not taking a winter break. We work diligently all year long to make sure our clients’ dreams are realized when spring arrives.