Kevin J. Gaughan

Hey Chris,
We are in Phoenix, and we do mainly design and subcontract the work out on high end residential designs. I believe we are the main contractor, and the work is divided accordingly.

Chris,
I operated a design/build company for 25 years where most of the work we did in-house with some sub-contracting on the specialized features. I now work by myself designing and then managing the projects. I have a network of contractors that work on these projects. I have a design fee and then negotiate a management fee with the…[Read more]

Elif-

I have learned that high-level or not, clients don’t read a lot of text. They’re swayed by images, sketches, pretty colors, and your passion. If you say Mondrian, show them what/who that is so they don’t have to ask. Have images that clearly delineate the connection between a Mondrian piece and your design (for example). If you communicate…[Read more]

Chris-
My advice:
If you love design, find a couple of good contractors you can send work to on a regular basis. They will (or should) pay you a commission or referal fee for the work you refer to them. They will in turn send you work, some of which they will pay you for directly. Probably a little at first, then more as your relationship builds.…[Read more]

Hey Chris,
My principal here in AZ is a licensed contractor. It’s pretty involved here, but definitely opens up many opportunities…

Did anyone go to Chicago and see any SSI presentations? Anything good?

Yes, the meeting went great! Stacy summed it up pretty good. It was fantastic to have Dominique come in and talk with us about her experiences using SSI on a project. From our discussions, we know there are a lot of kinks in SSI (as one would expect) but my feeling from her was that the document works well in establishing that necessary baseline…[Read more]

I thought it was great – especially Dominique’s experience with SSI for Lenexa City Center project. Several of the pre-requisites were un-achievable on that one. Those points were very worthy, highlighted the critical importance of proper site selction and deemed certainly worth keeping central in the SSI focus, but totally screwd the pooch (so to…[Read more]

Matt- How did the meeting go?

Hey folks in the KC area!
Just a reminder to those on Land8lounge that we’ll be having our monthly meeting this thursday (27th). If you haven’t received details, let me know!
Matt

That’s great. I’m a member of the Maryland Native Plant Society and try to use natives as much as possible in my design work. I’m way behind you in terms of knowledge but I’m working on it and I’m passionate about it. I think your photo archive will be useful for me and anyone else interested in using native plants.

Mostly I use it to teach myself plants. I’m a member of the Virginia Native Plant Society and lead field trips, but I still have a lot to learn about what grows around here. I also get a lot of requests to use the photos for books, brochures and presentations. In most cases I let people use the photos free of charge to encourage the use of natives.

Phillip that’s a nice cllection of photos. What do you use the archive for?

Great idea for a group!

I’m glad to see someone else interested in SSI! I’m working on a children’s garden project for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. We’re designing the project to the preliminary draft SSI credits in hopes to create a sustainable landscape project, test the credits and criteria and eventually hopefully become a pilot project.

If anyone’s interested, I have a photo archive of Virginia native plants at http://www.flickr.com/photos/claytonsnatives/.

Hi Guys”
Greetings!!!!!
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Cheers / Bharat Mishra

Hey Charles, Its good to have you in the group. How do you feel about this narrowing of role? Do you think that if we still had more of a role in related fields that there would be more work currently available for landscape architects? If you want you could start a discussion about it. I think it would be interesting to see what we could learn…[Read more]

I’ve been working in this profession for 37 years and have found that as time goes by, landscape architect’s role gets more and more narrow. 30 years ago, I was doing natural resource analysis, coastal management programs and land use plans. Now to do much of anything with natural resources we have to hire biologists, geologists, soils engineers,…[Read more]

I am interested in moving out West to begin a career in landscape architecture. I know the current economic climate is a challenge but can anyone offer some advice on where to find an entry-level position? I am not tied to any particular Western state.