Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The process of designing successful outdoor spaces

Landscape and garden design is concerned with the creation of outdoor spaces. It is an interdisciplinary subject where horticulture, science, arts and social science meet. Its multifaceted nature is what makes landscape design so exciting. It is not just about creating an outdoor space that looks nice, no, it goes beyond two dimensional art since the space must also feel nice and satisfy the needs of the users. Still, landscapes and gardens are more than three dimensional, they are four dimensional since time is a key factor when determining the success of a garden. Gardens are created to last for a long time, and as such, they can be regarded as investments in the future. Garden designers must therefore understand plants and soil in order to plant the right plant in the right place. They must know how to read a landscape in order to create outdoor spaces that last and evolve over time and can be enjoyed by people.

There is a framework that landscape and garden designers work within when designing outdoor spaces. We do not have the freedom to create just anything, as our creations much satisfy and comply with a variety of conditions. On the one hand we must carefully consider the site; it’s condition, aspects and horticultural potential and limitations. On the other hand we must take into consideration the client’s desires and needs. There are also legislation to consider, as well as time constraints and budgets. This may prove a challenge, but this is also what makes our work so exciting! When designing outdoor spaces for specific user groups, school children for example, the consultation process needs to be carefully planned in order to achieve quality results. The process itself, the journey, becomes a vital part of the whole project, to ensure a successful space is created. At no time should we consider ourselves as holders of all knowledge, no, the school children and staff are the experts here and the information gathered through the process of consultation is invaluable. We need to understand how to best access the information required from the children, by adopting effective methods of engagement. This stage should be fun and inspiring and through close collaboration, we can ensure that a sense of ownership is instilled in the participants, which is essential to ensure the long term success of an outdoor project.

CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, developed a toolkit called Spaceshaper 9-14 to be used to effectively engage with communities and other groups of people. The training and use of the toolkit is now administered by the Landscape Institute. The toolkit is used as a quality assessment tool and is delivered by trained facilitators at the start of a design project. Here at Forma Landscapes we are trained to use the toolkit and we find that this interactive, hands-on tool works very well with both adults and young people. For further information visit:
http://www.landscapeinstitute.org/Spaceshaper/spaceshaper914/index.html

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