There’s a fork in the landscape design road. A big one, since once you’ve gone down one side or the other, coming back is difficult. Not impossible, but fraught with lions, tigers and bears. You can take the design and build path, or the independent design one. In the end, they both lead to a new landscape. How you get there, however, is quite different.
Independent design
Since I’m a landscape architect, a species of designer, I have a bias. I think that hiring a separate design team who advocates for you, with no financial interest in the project cost, is a good thing.
The good
These are general notes. Some design and build companies act more like designers, some less. Everyone is different and your experience will vary depending on who you choose
We can be your advocate, helping to resolve design issues, explore options and recommend solutions, all without risk to our bottom line. If we accept a cheaper product, it does not change our fees.
An independent designer does not have manufacturer’s promotions pushing one product over another. Yes, we do have products we like, but we also like to discuss options based generally on budget, style and maintenance.
A big plus is that after going over plans, perspectives and details before the project starts, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what it will look like – and your reasons for arriving at a given design.
We try to stick to a clean, workable design, and don’t add items for extra profit. We might add expensive things, but typically they’re named “or equal”, allowing substitutes for various reasons: availability, shipping delay, cost or other factors.
We typically work with contractors with whom we’ve built up a relationship over the years. Not that they’re less expensive, but we know they stand by their work and will still be there for you after the project is done.
You can compare bids on the same design. More or less, anyway. Some contractors exclude items that others don’t, lowering their prices on paper while raising them in reality. If you contact three contractors for bids, you’re really asking for three design and build proposals, all different, so no way to compare equivalent prices from contractor to contractor.
The bad
It’s more complicated to work with a designer. We present choices, discuss alternatives, create 3D illustrations, plans, sketches…
Project cost is more art than science. Since we don’t bid your project, we have a general idea of costs – but a contractor’s bid is (sort of) binding. In practice, change orders are typical and will modify a project’s initial bid, so nothing really is written in stone. Still, with minimal or no changes, the price the contractor gives you is the price you’ll pay (plus any items they ask you to procure, typically masonry items like tile and stone).
It’s not a turnkey solution. After we’ve gone through the process of determining a design, it still needs to be bid out, a contractor chosen, and the plans implemented.
Design & Build
The good
It’s a turnkey solution. You deal with one company from start to finish. They do some drawings, you approve them, they take a check and get to work.
They’re all part of the same team. A good design and build company has their entire team in house. They’ve all worked together before, and are hopefully focused on providing fine workmanship, where everything is coordinated.
Their pricing is accurate at the time you sign. Since they’re contractors, their bid is legally binding – although change orders can drastically up the final cost (true of all contractors).
You can work with them to target a budget, assuming that it’s reasonable. After all, you can’t get a new Rolls-Royce for $1.98 any more than you can get a built-in swimming pool with engineering, equipment and permits for $2,000!
The bad
Often, design and build companies either dislike spending a lot of time on design, or charge extra after a certain limit is reached. So, if you’re someone who likes to ponder the possibilities, or wants a lot of views of the proposed landscape, this can raise costs.
They may have profit incentive programs from various manufacturers. Sometimes this matters, sometimes not. The end result may be similar, but then again it may limit solutions. Imagine they have a deal with a concrete paver company, and you want to use concrete, crushed rock or decomposed granite, none of which have incentives. So maybe you’ll get a lot of pavers when you could have had something more ecological or economical.
You don’t have an advocate. You’re dealing with a single company, so although you can discuss alternatives, will you know all the issues – good and bad – associated with the choices you’ll be making?
As a designer, it seems to me that some design and build companies recycle designs. It makes them easier and faster to bid, they build the same things so there’s no learning curve, and everyone starts on the same page without having to do a lot of homework. This works great for a lot of people. Where it bogs down is in creativity. Where top firms – both design only and design and build – constantly push the envelope, others don’t.
The bottom line: You always need to do your homework.
- Look at preliminary drawings and plans. Can you understand what they’re proposing? Is there a logical system – function, beauty, style – guiding the overall design?
- Look at built work. For designers, ask who built it and how it went. For design and build, ask the same question: the crew who built the project your reviewing may not be available for your project – so check first.
- Talk to past clients, if possible. How smooth was the process? Were their ideas heard? Did they enjoy the process, the people, the work, the result?
- Be critical: if you’re looking at built work, does it inspire, excite, soothe you. As that woman says on TV, does it bring you joy? How much variety between projects from the same company do you see? If they all look alike, did their clients really all want the same thing? It’s possible – people might pick a designer or builder based on their past work, so this is not necessarily a bad thing. Just another question to ponder.
- In the end, a good designer – contractor team will be as easy to work with as a single design and build firm – notwithstanding the complications. The process is identical after all – design always comes before construction, although some details come out during the construction process.