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Whenever I’m designing for a green-minded client, which happens to be my favorite kind, it’s nice to have some great pieces handy for inspiration. Thankfully, commercial stores are incorporating a few amazing options, making browsing for site furnishings easier and a little more fun. Most of the pieces pictured here are high in recycled content or made of rapidly renewable resources. 1. Wood Candles, Pottery Barn (www.potterybarn.com) 2. Vintage Grape Crate, Terrain at Styers (www.shopterrain.com/) 3. Alder Round Table, Brent Comber (www.brentcomber.com) 4. Vintage French Bistro Set, Terrain at Styers 5. Recycled Glass Lanterns, West Elm (www.westelm.com) 6. Pottery Barn Earth-Friendly Teak Dining Set 7. Willow Edging, Terrain at Styers 8. Box-weave Hurricane, Pottery Barn 9. Jute and Recl...Read More

Ride by Landscape Forms I have been paying closer attention to bike parking lately and wanted to share with you a few resources that I found useful. First, bikeparking.com, is a good site to gather information on what to avoid, what cyclists want, installation of bike racks and lockers, and about finishes that will help you when designing spaces for bike parking. For example, here is a list of things that cyclists want: Heavy-duty material on which to lock. Racks placed in line of sight from building, near entrance and constant foot traffic. Give cyclists the choice of regular racks or security racks. Sheltered or even inside a building is a definite plus. Functioning, quality lockers. A dedicated cage is quite the rage. Makes sense right? Well, here are a few common mistakes to avoid: Ins...Read More

It’s been a long gap. Forever it seemed land8lounge would be blocked in China but one day, reasons unknown, the great firewall was lifted. Long periods apart often cause relationships to fade but I have decided that it is time I started a blog again. Maybe not every week but everytime a new experience comes along. Generally for me now nearly 9 years in China not that much surprises me (on the bad side) but I am happy to report more and more surprises on the good side. By good I mean client intentions, general trends, peoples awareness, graduates etc.. This year Shanghai’s World Expo ‘Better City Better Life’ is true for me in that I have now moved on from my previous position as Head of Landscape for Scott Wilson. Whilst I have started a new role as a Senior Landsca...Read More

With the World Cup 2010 officially underway in South Africa, it’s got me thinking of another country planning to host their own set of worldwide sports events: Brazil. Two of the largest sporting competitions in the world, the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, , will be held there. Brazil has made it their goal to create and adopt strict environmental criteria for the design and implementation of these events, going down the list from promoting organic products all the way to neutralizing all greenhouse gas emissions. Have you ever heard of net-zero Olympics?? I’m game. There are certainly some wacky designs out there that deserve to be shared. Here is a great set of articles all about the venues for additional reading: Solar City Tower by RAFAA Sweet video of the Olympic venues ...Read More

I’d like to take the opportunity to share the course of my life these past few weeks. A couple days after my last post, I discovered that I’d been accepted into a Sustainable MBA program. Hurrah! At first it was exhilarating. Then it dawned on me that I’d better get cracking on my FAFSA, among other things. For all those in school or planning on going to school, read on to get a little help on the money side of things. First things first, check out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (or FAFSA for short) form, now available completely online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. I swear it is much less painful than it used to be, and was certainly less painless than doing my taxes this year! All you’ll need really is your last tax return handy, and some uninterrupted time in front of the laptop. T...Read More

So…you have decided to become a LEED professional? Congratulations on your decision to advance your career and become part of the green movement! Now, you mustidentify exactly how to achieve a LEED professional credential. This step should be easy, however, it can be difficult to navigate through all the information available to determine how to begin your LEED training. Don’t worry; we are here to help! Follow this step-by-step process, and you’ll be good as gold: 1st: Determine which LEED credential you want to achieve. In order to receive the proper LEED training, you need to decide which LEED credential is right for you. There are currently two levels of LEED credentials: LEED Green Associate and LEED Accredited Professional. Think of the levels as if they were a high school diploma an...Read More

The official launch of the LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) Rating System was on April 29, 2010. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) is the first national organization to regulate neighborhood design by focusing on smart growth and eco-friendly building principles. The LEED for Neighborhood Development Certification awards a stamp of approval for developmental design and location choices that meet the high standards of sustainable development and environmental responsibility in urban building practices. USGBC has partnered with the Congress for New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council to launch the LEED-ND Rating System, which aims to reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with urban sprawl. Urban sprawl is the spreading outwards of a city and its s...Read More

With the current push for more stringent, eco-friendly, building standard practices being supported by the federal government and abroad, the need for LEED training is now expanding globally. An agreement was signed between the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and China’s Green Building Council (CBGC) on April 6, 2010 that signifies the dawn of a new era between these two powerful green building organizations. The agreement officially acknowledges that the two parties will begin to collaborate together to promote the reduction of carbon emissions and support eco-friendly building practices worldwide. The demand for LEED Accredited Professionals in the building workforce is becoming even greater with the recent collaboration between these two parties. China’s Green B...Read More

Dirt is one material that, while rarely fully exposed, is often a base material that other elements are placed over. Many times these elements will have gaps between them where there is exposed dirt, whether it be in a mulch-less planting bed, or in areas like a dense forest as we have here. You cold also combine the dirt with another layer of material, like a scattered moss or leaf-litter, to add some depth and realism. I have used this in 3D models before with good results, but in a 2D rendering it can add slightly more detail than is useful, creating a cluttered look that makes the drawing a little harder to read. The first process for making dirt is essentially identical to how you make turf. However, the images I selected for this tutorial have some major imperfections that will allow...Read More

As it is with many things, my technique for turf, and the similar techniques I use for other materials, were born of other needs. Namely, I hated the way my turf looked in 3D renderings. You could use a created texture, but it never looked organic. You could use a photo, but you got TERRIBLE tiling effects. You could do a slight color overlay to soften the impact of the tiling, but the color was always off, and you would lose to much of the internal texture. I tried all of these, before scouring through tutorial sites and stumbled on the idea of using two separate textures, with a masking layer to blend the two. This is used commonly in 3D models when you have to put a non-square image onto a model. Say you have a beer… sorry I got distracted there for a second. So, you have a bottle...Read More

When starting a digital rendering, just like with a hand rendering, the first step is always to create the lines you are going to render within. Generally people use lines directly taken from AutoCAD for digital renderings as these are the “cleanest” lines, and allow for some shortcuts such as exporting each area as its own file. This method, which I have used often, involves turning every layer off except 2 – one framing the layout window, and one with a single rendered material (turf, pool edging, brick patio, etc.) You repeat this with every material, then bring them into Photoshop, and create a single drawing with the different areas as layers. The advantage is that you then can use the magic wand to select even the most complex shape in a single click, regardless of ...Read More

The UK Landscape Award is looking for the best landscape in the UK. The Award helps to implement the European Landscape Convention (ELC) in the UK. The Convention is the first international convention to focus specifically on landscape, and is dedicated exclusively to the protection, management and planning of all landscapes in Europe. The ELC became binding from 1 March 2007. The convention highlights the need to recognise landscape in law, to develop landscape policies dedicated to the protection, management and creation of landscapes, and to establish procedures for the participation of the general public and other stakeholders in the creation and implementation of landscape policies. It also encourages the integration of landscape into all relevant areas of policy, including cultural, ...Read More