Bergen County, NJ—2013 “Top 50 Pool Builder” Explains the benefits of including a professional landscape architecture firm in any new home construction or renovations.
Bergen County, NJ—2013 “Top 50 Pool Builder” Explains the benefits of including a professional landscape architecture firm in any new home construction or renovations.
Are you thinking about buying or building a new home? Do you have concerns about the exterior of the home and/or the outdoor living spaces that you would like to include on the property? Are you aware of the relationship between home development and landscape architecture? There are a number of issues to consider with respect to how landscape architecture can have a positive impact on your renovation or new home project.
First, practically speaking, if a home is built without any regard for the outdoor living space, then the possibilities of a swimming pool and/or large patio spaces might be significantly impacted. If the total area of the home and driveway put the property up to its impervious coverage limits, a pool and patio may not be able to be built, and altering existing impervious coverage to make room for the pool and patio can be remarkably expensive. The most common case of this dilemma deals with the circular driveway mistake. There is no denying the beauty and grandeur of a circular driveway. If however if an unknowing homeowner has the circular driveway installed during construction of the home without planning the property as a whole, and years or months later that same homeowner decides that they want to build a pool, they will very likely find that the circular driveway was actually the last piece of hardscape to be permissible for the home. Incorporating a landscape architecture firm early in the planning process insures that these types of municipal regulations are taken into account, and thus preserves a balanced development of your property and ensures your priorities are incorporated, and further that all of your outdoor living visions receive proper consideration.
Landscape architects can also help properly plan the new home’s infrastructure. If you decide that you would like a swimming pool and outdoor living space with a kitchen from the beginning, a septic system or seepage pits and all of the associated infrastructure can be designed in other areas of the property to accommodate your vision. This type of planning prioritizes all of your goals, and reduces the costs of doing things twice.
Beyond planning, another advantage of including a landscape architecture firm in any renovation or new home development is the conservation of resources. Before the development of a property begins, there are many valuable, existing resources. Rocks, boulders, trees plants, and other elements of the landscape can be spotted and inventoried by a landscape architect and incorporated in the new outdoor living space. Similarly, soil and other practical components can be utilized for the landscape and/or pool design. This conservation of resources will cut costs and tie the new outdoor living space into the home’s natural surroundings.
Overall, the involvement of a landscape architect early in the process of new home development has nothing but an upside. Planning, conservation, and prioritization, help to cut unnecessary costs and ensure that you get the outdoor living space of your dreams. The home architect, homebuilder, and the landscape architect, can work simultaneously to produce a design for your entire property. If the landscape architecture falls by the wayside, it can take time and money to bring the exterior of the home to comparable levels of design and construction.
If you have any questions at all about balanced site development please Email Christie@plantnj.com or call our landscape architecture office and ask for Bill Moore, at 201-785-0800.
Congratulations to the entire Cipriano team for earning the 2013 Northeast Spa and Pool Association, “NESPA,” Best Pool Design & Construction Award for the violin pool project in Bedford NY!