I am fortunate in being involved at many levels and sectors in the Landscape Industry, both before and behind the scenes. After fifty-two years of designing and building gardens mainly in the private sector, I have now retired from physical construction works.
Now working as a Gardens Consultant specialising in dispute issues, I hear many tales from all sides, from the customer, landscape contractor and designers, I learn about things that would surprise many!
Staying firmly on the subject of garden design and designers, as opposed to design and build firms, in order to explore the workings of individuals rather than companies who will be working with diverse and multidisciplined methods of operating, I want to look at the relationship between the garden designer and their customers.
In order to establish the role of a garden designer within a proposed project, we need to examine and recognise the many and varied ways of making the initial contact between the two Parties. This First Contact is very important, as it sets the scene for the immediate and first steps in building a relationship.
The first contact may have come about because of an advert or third Party influence, and it is important to note and recognise this fact, as it may have a strong bearing on your approach to the client when making initial contact. For example, if they have seen your work in a magazine, images from your website, advert in shop window or garden centre display, they will have chosen you BECAUSE of that information. They will have already begun to form an opinion of you your work and of you as an individual.
You will not be cold calling when you first meet, having established common ground between the two Parties and a rapport has already been formed because of that contact. Try to establish how your enquiry was initiated and remember that fact when arranging the initial interview and prepare your presentation accordingly.
From the outset, you will need to have a clear understanding as to why you have been invited to attend. Everyone has their own methods of working and engaging with their clients, and certain fee arrangements may have already been made. Some designers charge for initial visits, plus mileage and expenses and some do not.
I am not alluding to those contractual details, as they will not necessarily have a bearing on the role or roles that the designer may be called upon to perform. By that I mean the invitation may well be exploratory. Following on from the first point of contact, the customer may be simply looking for ideas and advice at this stage and invited someone along who they feel can help them to realise the potential. Nothing more.
Therefore, the designer’s role at this stage, in this instance, is purely that. The customer likes your style, images, and reputation, and wishes to open discussions and examine the potential of their site. You are not being tasked with implementing or enabling anything, and it is counter-productive and confusing to attend that initial meeting and start talking about building the garden as though it was a foregone conclusion when all they are doing at this stage is making a feasibility study.
However, during this initial meeting, which is essentially an interview between two Parties, a number of different roles may be identified, and it is important to recognise and separate these into a progressive pattern as they relate to the project.
The first of the Designer’s Roles needs to be very clear to establish the parameters each one encompasses. The need for instructions and directions from the client must be established and recorded. These may change as the project progresses and evolves, but it is important to begin with a set of clear rules to avoid misunderstandings, which may see the designer going off at tangents and supplying the client with unnecessary information and carrying out research that is unwarranted, and the client will not wish to pay for.
Depending on your practice and the services you offer, it is prudent to set out a schedule or menu. Some designers are brilliant artists, able to draw thumbnail sketches and provide fast perspectives of potential features, whilst others provide accurate scale drawings using CAD or other electronic methods. Visuals are very important during discussions, although these can take the form of mood boards, photographs of your projects, magazine cuttings and images presented in a way that offers the client a choice or selection of ideas to enthuse them into buying your design services.
The first Role is to establish a rapport with the client, and the second is to gain their attention and create an enthusiastic atmosphere during the initial interview. Without fulfilling these two Roles, further movement may be restricted and in danger of losing focus by one or both Parties.
The Third Role is more a matter of due compliance, being the foundations of your design contract, all of which must be written as your Terms of Engagement. These roles and responsibilities must be subject to Sunset Clauses, which may be universal or separated according to the subject matter.
The necessary formalities of obtaining a site survey, whether or not it is one produced by yourself, or commissioned by the client for your use, is of fundamental importance, which, together with obtaining a meaningful budget from the customer to enable basic outline designs to being formulation is the Fourth Role. Nobody else, only the Designer, can carry out this part of the process, as without these ingredients, it is not possible to proceed with a design commission.
(See ‘Designers – Getting a Budget From a Client’. Also ‘Taking Time To Ascertain a Client’s Wishes’ – both in the Landscape Library, Designer’s Section)
The design element, with however many stages this process may involve, will eventually end with an accepted package of proposals, with whatever technical information and specification the project demands, may require another Role for the Designer. This may involve negotiations and discussions with a Landscape Contractor, where feasibility studies, on site meetings and costs are discussed, together with a time scale, start dates and material lead times are considered and included in a formula that may be turned into the Contract (Design Management) (CDM) Regulations Plan which will require legal compliance and agreement including the Duties each Party must agree and sign up to.
It may be the case that the client does not wish to involve you as the designer within the CDM Plan, and taking on the responsibilities of Principal Designer themselves (or passing the whole project over to the Landscape Contractor, which is a matter that must be clearly shown in the CDM Plan).
In which case, your duties and roles must end, formally, in writing, to ensure that you are not liable for any works thereafter. (Design faults may arise, or matters of quantity, but these become the responsibility of the client and contractor if they have agreed them within the CDM Plan. Hence the importance of ensuring your role has been terminated at whatever stage)
Some duties may be separated by written agreement by all interested Parties, which involve a designer returning to site to supervise and oversee certain elements of a project. These may be the siting or orientation of a sculpture or seat. Placing and setting plants prior to planting.
Selecting a colour or style of garden furniture, or any one of a thousand different things the client feels will be important to the final touches in the garden.
If this eventuality occurs, it is vital that you, as the Designer, have a separate written agreement clearly setting out the parameters of your return visit. This ad hoc Role should not be conflated with your previous involvement, nor become intertwined with a Landscape Contractor’s documentation. A separate note should be made in the CDM Plan recognising your return role and its’ strict parameters and fixed liability to avoid becoming involved in any future dispute between the client and the contractor.
Remember too, if you have inserted Sunset Clauses in the original Terms of Engagement, this clause must be restored in any agreement to return to site, and not left ignored, otherwise you will remain liable thereafter by neglecting to close the contract.
In summary, the Designer’s Roles may be defined as follows;
One – Establishing Rapport
Two – Creating a Conducive Atmosphere
Three – Terms of Engagement
Four – Establishing The Budget
Five – Presenting Your Proposals
Six – Introducing CDM
Seven – Variable According to Contract or Client’s Wishes
With each of these Roles come responsibilities, which are covered in various articles within the Library, primarily under the Designer’s Section, but also Contractors