Some of our favorite projects here at Outdoor Design Group are the landscape renovations. These kind of projects can be quite challenging to work on, but they often turn out to be the most rewarding once the project is completed, the site takes on a fresh new look and the plants have begun to fill in and show off.
A recent project for a non-profit organization near our office was completed a couple years ago, and the landscape plants have been looking great ever since. The landscape areas around the entrance to this organization’s building face mostly south and west with ample amounts of sunshine. With this in mind, we knew we could design a xeric planting plan that would look great throughout a long hot summer, replacing the old plants on site that were more water needy.
And because of the south facing entrance, we had the opportunity to utilize plants that are typically a little too frost tender for the Denver area. But that southern entrance to this building gave us warmer micro-climates we could play with to plant more unique varieties of plants for our area, such as Desert Willow and a selection of cacti.
Luckily our client on this project was a wonderful partner in the endeavor and was very open to the idea of a new landscape of low water and native plants for their freshly renovated office building. The before and after photos shown below offer a glimpse of the transformation:
Painted Lady Butterflies enjoying the xeriscape plants at this Olde Town Arvada landscape makeover.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
Located in Littleton, Colorado, The Gardens at Columbine is a memory care/assisted living facility on which Outdoor Design Group provided landscape design services. This site was an expansion of an existing assisted living facility onto adjacent property. This new building provides a space for adding memory care services to the facility’s roster of other existing services for senior citizens.
As the new building was being planned for this recently acquired property, we designed the outdoor spaces, walkways and landscaped gardens to surround this new structure. Because the site was not terribly large, and the proposed building sizable in scope, this provided several challenges. From how to fit parking spaces into a small space to designing safe and sound emergency exit pathways, this project was a challenging but satisfying endeavor.
One of the first challenges we had to face was how to provide a working landscape at the east entrance to the building. This entrance is near the other existing building, and is the preferred access point for employees traveling between buildings. The difficulty here was adding an entrance walkway that would transition from a higher elevation parking lot then drop down to a doorway that sits slightly below grade relative to the parking lot. Retaining walls were necessary in this area so we added built in benches at the walls to provide useful amenities along this path. Step lights in the walls provide a soft illumination for this well used pathway.
Prior to construction, the original site was filled with trees, as it had been a large lot with one single family home on it. While some of the existing trees could not be saved due to the scope of the proposed building, we worked with the city and the owner to save as many trees as we could. For example we spent a significant time working and re-working the landscape plan with the civil engineer on the project to reconfigure the entrance drive and parking areas to save several existing trees on the north and east sides of the property.
The namesake gardens are located in the internal courtyard of the project. These outdoor spaces give residents of the facility a charming scene that invites them to go outside and get some fresh air amid the trees, shrubs and raised bed gardens.
Stepping out of the building and into the courtyard, the first of the raised planting beds one encounters is a large circle comprised of a poured-in-place concrete seat wall that is chock full of colorful perennials, wispy ornamental grasses, low growing shrubs and scraggy boulders.
As you step further into the courtyard, you encounter wooden raised bed gardens where residents of the facility can indulge their gardening bug and get their hands dirty in the soil. These two beds are situated on opposite sides of the courtyard, connected by a concrete walk where the residents can circumnavigate to achieve fresh air and exercise, ensconced in the protective calm of these hidden gardens.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
The landscape design includes patio space and a gas fire pit that allows easy enjoyment of the mountain views
Are you considering purchasing a new home? When you tour the lot, examine the adjacent views and how the site may be landscaped and used for outdoor living space. With a little foresight and a good design, the yard can be made into an inviting extension of your home for your family and guests alike.
For this project, located on the west side of Arvada, Colorado, we worked with the homeowners to take advantage of amazing mountain views, while adding value and convenience to their property. A sloped lot was redesigned to provide a flat lawn area and a secondary seating area with a custom gas fire pit. Pavers were used to soften the existing covered concrete patio, and a built-in outdoor kitchen and bar seating were added. Soft lighting provides security and ambiance in the evening, while the Rocky Mountains provide the backdrop for stunning sunsets.
The view from the back of the lot toward the house and outdoor kitchen
View of firepit with tiered lawn behind
The view from the leveled-off lawn are to the outdoor kitchen
The existing sloped backyard
Most builders will include a basic front yard landscape in the home price, but will leave the back yard as bare ground for you to improve however you wish. The design must be approved by the homeowners association. The proposed landscape will need to ensure proper drainage and shouldn’t have any negative impacts on your neighbors lots, or adjacent open space.
The front yard can always be redesigned as well. The front yard irrigation mainline and valves should already be in place, so the design can be modified pretty easily. This homeowner asked us to redesign the front yard simultaneously, and they plan to redo the front yard in a second phase. For the time being, they have completed their landscape, eliminating the bare dirt and allowing them to fully enjoy their new home and yard.
Pavers were installed over the concrete patio that came with the home
Enjoying a beer and the mountain views
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
The team of landscape architects at Outdoor Design Group, Inc. are thrilled to be partnering with Bud Surles Signature Resorts of Victor, Idaho to create a master plan for an exclusive new resort project in Tangshan Bay, China. The 285 acre park and resort on the Pacific coast will be one of the first of it’s kind to be completed in China, and will feature commercial space, lakes, trails, water features, marinas, and numerous active recreational amenities.
Outdoor Design Group, Inc. was founded in 2004 by Denver landscape architect Matt Corrion. The firm’s office is located in Olde Town Arvada, Colorado. Additional details about the Tangshan Bay Resort project will be shared as they become available. For more information please contact Outdoor Design Group at 303-993-4811.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
If you have visited our website anytime over the last year, you may have notice that the “portfolio” tab led to an innocuous page that didn’t have much to offer.
Well, after putting a great deal of time into formatting the images and debating the merits of several layout options, the Outdoor Design Group Portfolio has finally been revealed:
A screenshot from the new Outdoor Design Group online portfolio
As with each of our websites, this was designed in-house. We looked at several ways to display images before settling on a simple black background and clusters of images. The main goal was to have something that showed off our work, yet was simple to navigate and that loaded quickly without the use of a spacial image viewer or flash.
We approached this design challenge by using many of the same principles we use to approach landscape design:
Eliminate clutter, keeping the design simple and elegant, less is more
Make the design functional and practical first, then integrate form
Imagine and anticipate how the user will interact with, experience, and move through the space
The main portfolio page shows an example of our diverse areas of design work. By clicking on “Residential”, “Land Development”, or “Site Renovations”, you are able to move into a separate portfolio section that displays each respective type of work.
I would love to hear what you think – Do you think this layout and navigation works well?
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
