The Tharp Design Landscape Architecture Process
What does a Landscape Architect do, and what is the process at Tharp Design?
Landscape architects design and plan outdoor spaces including gardens, pools, paving, plantings, and more. Landscape architects are trained to design for the way people will use and also maintain a space. Great landscape architects consider not only how how an outdoor space looks and what is planted, but also with how the space feels and how easy it will be to keep up with in years to come. At Tharp Design, we work to plan beautiful, comfortable, useful spaces for our clients that not only blend with the natural surroundings, but enhance them.
Step 1: Complimentary Consultation
We want our clients to have a hand in every step of the design process. Your initial consultation with Erin Tharp, Professional Landscape Architect, is free and we like to use this time to get to know not only the site, but also our client’s expectations of what the site will be used for. We’ll talk about the pieces of a landscape architecture contract for your job and the way the design process will unfold around your needs and budget.
Step 2: Design
Once we are hired we ask our clients to gather photos from different sources to provide design inspiration. We often do this via email or apps like Houzz and Pinterest. These photos are then used as a way to develop design books. While we never copy a design, we will try to incorporate styles, materials, or plants that we believe are suitable to the site and to our client’s design perspective.
A series of design ideas gathered from Pinterest in a sample design book.
After this, the design process starts. Our fee is calculated by the number of hours we expect to spend on this process, and once the contract is signed our fee does not change. We offer our clients multiple draft revisions, including Photoshop renderings of the projected installed project, until we both feel that the design is exactly what the client wants.
Photoshop Rendering of a Tharp Design
Step 3: Plan Delivery
One of Several Deliverables on an Erin Tharp project.