LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/457513
38 Landscape Architect and Specifier News multi-day research trips in Dubai researching plant materials by visiting local and regional nurseries, as well as nearby projects to develop a plant palette that works in this extreme climate. These trips also provided time to: visit stone suppliers and fabricators—local stone was selected despite limited availability in the area; evaluate custom site furnishing mock-ups; research materials that could sustain the climate's weathering, erosion and sun bleaching; and discuss the project with local contractors and subcontractors to gain an understanding of how things get built in the country. Lastly, to ensure that the project was built to the highest standards of construction, the firm's full-time field representative remained onsite to coordinate with contractors and assess craftsmanship at regular intervals. Through expertise and careful planning, the work was completed from schematic design to construction documents in six months, on time and within the fixed project budget. Looking Back As designers, we were incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn from a project of this scope and nature. The knowledge gained from many years spent implementing new projects around the world continually reaffirms the focus of our global practice and reflects the changes happening in the larger world of landscape architecture. U.S. designers can have an instrumental hand in the development of spaces and places anywhere, but in an increasingly global economy, every new project requires fresh thinking that is innovative from a design standpoint and synthesizes the complexities of "glocal" cultures and ecologies as well as business, design, and engineering practices. Above An extensive series of granite-clad steps were required to compensate for the large grade difference.