In this time of COVID-19, we can’t meet directly with clients. Luckily, we have a lot of communication methods available as long as we have internet access and electricity. For commercial projects, we get base plans from the architect or engineer, complete our work, and send it back for inclusion in the plan set as a PDF file. For residential clients, we create PDF files with material “boards” to discuss via e-mail or video chat.
A residential project
Site plan
This plan shows relationships between areas, size of features, tree locations, plant massing and how the hardscape materials fit together.
This plan is to scale. Including a graphic scale allows clients to see how large things are no matter the size at which the plan gets printed.
Boards
One board shows the pool treatment, with two types of pool tiles, a tile cap for coping and the proposed scupper.
The other shows plants and hardscape to convey an image – a “mood” for the Mediterranean theme of the garden.
A commercial project
Design files arrive by email
The engineer or architect sends scaled files in a computer-aided-design (CAD) format.
We then adapt these files for use in landscape drawings, in this case slicing up long linear planting areas to better fit them on the page.
Landscape drawings added
Once we’ve set up the sheets (pages) in the plan set, we add the landscape elements: hydrozones, planting and irrigation plans, legends, notes, schedules and details.
We check the plans, output them as a single multipage PDF file and send it back to the client for inclusion in the submittal set.
With the coronavirus closing offices, suppliers and pretty much everything but “critical” businesses, it’s unclear how the submittal process will work. It’s possible for agencies to review directly from PDF files with markups, but only if their people know how this technology works.
By having plans ready, at least things can start a bit more quickly once the pandemic has run its course.