Drawing, Designing, and Drawing

Dreaming, Designing and Drawing: How it Really Works

Creating fun, functional and relaxing outdoor rooms and landscapes requires designers to think and communicate visually and spatially. Different drawing techniques help us to move from ideas to a built project.  At the core of the design is a plan, a map of the project. How will the rooms fit in the space? How will we move from one space to another?  How does the furniture work within the space? What about plants?

 

Yet plans don’t help us see or feel spaces.  To virtually meander through the backyard retreat, to virtually relax with a cool drink to the sound of the fountain, to virtually sit by the fire pit, smoking cigars and watching football…we need 3 dimensional projections. 

Site photo taken before...

Sketches of future project!

Site photo taken before....

Sketch of new outdoor living space!

Ivy Street Design combines computer animation with engaging hand drawings to explore virtual reality as we design, and to share the environment we propose to build for our clients in a very real way.  A “look book” of proposed materials, finishes, plants and other landscape products helps our clients flush out the vision.

But, as sexy as virtual reality and the look books are, it lacks the technical nuts and bolts we need to build projects. What are the next steps? 

Technical plans, sections and isometrics are the key drawing elements to transition from paper to construction. A complicated project may require several sheets of plans, starting with a technical plan that shows exactly how the elements fit in the space, both in the horizontal and vertical plane. The construction set also includes a planting plan that identifies species, size and quantities of plants to be installed and a lighting plan.

 The plan view that addresses the vertical plane is often referred to as the grading and drainage plan. Since landscapes are rarely flat, this document addresses how many steps it takes to get from one space to another, and the relative heights of vertical elements, especially retaining and seating walls. This plan also determines how rain water, including water from the roof, will move safely away from structures and patio spaces. This information about the vertical plane, documented as contour lines or bench marked spot elevations, is absolutely critical to the execution of a successful design.

Although critical for construction, a grading and drainage plan is hard to visualize, and we already saw that virtual reality isn’t technically accurate. For precise understanding of the vertical plane, designers turn to sections, elevations and isometric projections.

Sections, elevations and isometric projections show the vertical plane to scale, just as plans are a scaled map of the horizontal plane. Sections, elevations and isometric projections help us design safe, practical and gracious walls and steps. Sections and elevations show how outdoor kitchens, fire features and fences and gates will actually work.  The spot elevations on the plan and the sections/elevations/isometric projections are correlated, ensuring that the project will fit together seamlessly.

Preliminary rough design sketches

Ready for a design review!

A successful built landscape starts with many rough sketches that never make it out of the design studio, progresses to illustrative virtual reality sketches, and eventually evolves to a set of accurate construction documents. Knowing what to draw, which information we should explore internally, how to best illustrate ideas for clients to understand, what is critical to share with contractors is one of the hallmarks of quality design. If you are purchasing landscape architectural services, ask how the design staff approaches drawing. Or, of course, contact us at Ivy Street Design…because after reading this, 

you know we do it right.