Tag: communication

No Worries

Set atop a mountain on a beautiful bump in the Atlantic Ocean, this project jumped countless supply hurdles and survived two hurricanes while under construction -- thereby proving to Shane LeBlanc that anything is possible if you step back and learn to live with 'island time.'By Shane LeBlanc

In recent years, I’ve become increasingly focused on landing projects on St. Thomas, St. John and a bunch of other paradisal surface eruptions off the east coast of North America: I like the people, enjoy the climate and truly love the laid-back island culture I find even among the high-end clients who call on me to design their poolscapes.

Quite often, the settings are the far side of spectacular, too, with views of multi-hued coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean stretching out for miles, often interrupted by

Getting Up to Speed

Blog art croppedBy Jim McCloskey

I promise not to be insufferably happy in too many more of these blogs, but I have to say that the trade show I just attended as a new member of the Watershape University team was an over-the-moon experience for me.

It has been decades since I can recall being even slightly

Inquiring Minds

10 year logoBy Brian Van Bower

‘Watershaping carries us onto the properties and into the private lives of our clients, and it does so to such a personal, even intimate level,’ wrote Brian Van Bower to start his February 2010 Aqua Culture column, ‘that I see the value and importance of getting to know them to the best of my ability.  Invariably, that means asking the right questions and knowing how to

2019/12.2, December 18 — Working the Views, Fountain Precision, Inventive Mythology and more

THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS December 18, 2019 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE A Desert Delight Presented with great views, willing clients and a nearly blank slate,Rick Chafeytook full advantage of the opportunities the site offered while also providing the homeowners with one-of-a-kind details that captured the essence of their ambitions for a […]

Designing a New Paradigm (Part 1)

20yearslogoIn August 1999, more than 30 professionals gathered at a small college in Southeastern Ohio to talk about water and absorb the rudiments of a collective “Philosophy of Design.”  Organized by The Whispering Crane Institute, the conference was as much about attitude as it was about the practicalities of designing with water.

In attendance were Rick Anderson and Richard Dubé of the Whispering Crane Institute and the Genesis 3 team of Skip Phillips, Brian Van Bower and

Setting Egos Aside

10 year logoBy Brian Van Bower

‘One of the themes I’ve covered repeatedly through the years,’ wrote Brian Van Bower in opening his Aqua Culture column in September 2009, ‘has had to do with the need for all of us to become effective team players.

‘True, there have been times when egos have gotten in the way and I’ve found myself in fairly dysfunctional groups, but for all that, I have to say that collaboration very often

2019/9.1, September 4 — Modernist Detailing, True Rainfall, Revived Splendor and more

THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS September 4, 2019 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE Modern Mystique It was a fairly straightforward consultation that became much more than that, writesPaolo Benedetti. He made a few practical suggestions and set the overflow system and equipment vault up for peak performance — then pitched in to aid […]

The Gradual Renovation

 

It was a most unusual remodeling project, notes Carla Sovernigo. Partly it had to do with its scale and complexity, but mostly it was because it took three full years to finalize the design and then another whole year to align every last detail with the clients' highly refined ambitions. By Carla Sovernigo

Participating in a major project is sometimes like watching a child grow up through various developmental stages: Good things take time!

Our own involvement in one of these endurance tests started when we were called out to a 25-year-old home in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: It was being updated from a dreary, dated style to something modern and contemporary for clients who were all about luxury, five-star amenities and state-of-the-art detailing.

The architect and the home builder

The Client Experience

Blog art croppedBy Jim McCloskey

As I write this on May 10, we’re two weeks into a major renovation of our home of 30 years. Various demolition, foundation, framing, flooring, cabinet and roofing contractors will be redoing the kitchen from top to bottom while adding about 65 square feet to its space by

Creative Spirits

The project may have started with a miscommunication, notes Dave Garton, but that amusing incident never stood in the way of his creating a beautiful sunken pond -- or of campaigning to ease neighbors' fears about a significant (but temporary) disruption of their bucolic lives. By Dave Garton

This project came my way as a lot of them have through the years: A landscape contractor had been tasked with organizing things on a large estate property and called me in to work with the homeowners on the pond they wanted.

During our first meeting on site, I took an immediate liking to the couple, and she in particular had bountiful ideas about what she wanted. As we walked the estate together that day, she pointed toward the boggy depression at the edge of the property where we’d be placing the pond – quite close to a community bridle path – and said she wanted