As it turns out, you need both, for different reasons.
If you are considering remodeling or adding an addition to your home, your architect can tell you what type of fire safe material is best for your specific building design and location. But can they help you with a fire safe landscape design?
Marin, Sonoma and Napa Counties, like the rest of California are preparing for fire season, and wildfires are a continuing threat to homes and businesses.
What is the difference between an architect and a landscape architect?
Both architects and landscape architects are highly trained professionals. They must meet specific licensing regulations for their respective fields. In addition, both must be aware and adhere to state and local building codes and environmental regulations. The major difference between them is where they focus their designs. While an architect can help you with that remodeling project, home addition or commercial build out, the landscape architect works with the outdoor area of your property. With large-scale projects that means they can design entire community spaces, college campuses and business parks.
Some properties’ site locations make working with a landscape architect a wise decision. They can advise on how specific vegetation will impact spatial orientation and views, site slope concerns and water management. They can also advise on the types of trees and shrubs and where to plant them to improve fire safety.
What will your outdoor space be used for?
The architect who assists with your home design will certainly ask how you plan to use your remodeled room or addition. The same is true for a landscape architect. Do you love to throw big parties, or small family gatherings? Will the space contain built-in features like stone benching or will the patio furniture to be tucked away for the winter?
Will your design include a pool or water feature? Is your family interested in a vegetable garden or decorative, yet drought resistant plants? A landscape architect will have specific questions that will guide design decisions.
Just as your home architect is not your builder, a landscape architect provides designs but does not build them. In rare cases, you may find a landscape architect who also holds a contractor’s license but most often there are collaborative relationships between those individuals. Clear communication skills are important for the envisioned design to be a success.
One of the great things about working with a landscape architect is that they are trained to think in terms of systems. There are entire websites now devoted to fire safety in California, with the purpose of getting all of us to think in terms of the overall landscape and climate our homes, cities and towns exist within. These are the systems a landscape architect considers with a design.
Defensible spaces around homes are critically important.
A landscape architect can help with designing defensible spaces. Leaving enough room between a home and the surrounding vegetation is also a subject highlighted in the Defensible Space Evaluations being conducted by local fire departments in many localities in Marin and surrounding counties. Along with the evaluation which includes an Actions Required Checklist, homeowners are receiving the Homeowner’s Guide to Wildfire Preparedness in Marin County, detailing Zones of Safety, Fire Resistant Plants and Tips on Fire Hazardous Plants. You’ll find that and much more at firesafemarin.org .
A version of this post first ran in 2021.
If you have questions about how an architect and a landscape architect can provide complementary design services, please contact our office today at 415-450-9504 x700 (Marin) or 707-241-4944 (Sonoma).