Creating a Client for Life

By Raymond Hainer

Installing a swimming pool in your backyard is hardly a do-it-yourself project. Aside from the work itself, the scheduling alone can be a nightmare. Landscapers, masons, electricians, plumbers-all of these professionals need to contribute in a particular order, yet they all work independently and keep busy schedules. It should come as no surprise that marshalling this army of contractors efficiently can be as daunting to homeowners as pouring the concrete themselves.

This is where the Sudbury Design Group steps in. The members of this award-winning, multifaceted landscape architectural firm are not merely design and planning experts. Once their plans are drawn up they really get to work, coordinating complex projects and taking care of the myriad logistical details and day-to-day decisions that are involved in a major project.

Whether they are designing an elaborate terrace or sculpting the grounds of a corporate campus, Sudbury Design Group's project managers assume the critical task of translating their client's vision into a master plan, and ultimately into specifications for the various craftsmen charged with executing it. Michael Coutu, President of Sudbury Design, describes his firm as a liaison between clients and contractors. "We're very engaged," he says. "A lot of firms don't play as active a role in the day-to-day aspects of the project as we do. We see our projects right through to final completion."

The Sudbury Design Group employs a team of 10 landscape architects, as well as engineers, architects, and urban planners. The firm also maintains a full-time construction staff of 45 that comprises some of the region's finest masons and horticulturists. The size of its staff and the breadth of its expertise allow Sudbury Design to design, plan, and execute a project in-house, rather than delegating each task of a project to an outside contractor. If a client so wishes, Sudbury Design can take on every aspect of a project themselves, from start to finish.

Sudbury Design Group's design/build capability, uncommon among landscape architectural firms, streamlines even the most complicated projects. By eliminating the parade of independent subcontractors normally required, the design-build approach reduces the dreaded "schedule creep," as well as one of the most common side effects of home improvement projects, stress for the homeowner.

"Design/build allows you to expedite a project with greater flexibility and control over the timeline than you would have otherwise," explains landscape architect Scot Indermuehle, a Sudbury Design project manager for almost twenty years.

Sudbury Design Group, established as a construction entity in 1959, first began offering design/build as an option to its clients in 1972, and since then many clients have been quick to take advantage. Sudbury Design Group recognizes, however, that design/build is not for everyone, and that some clients prefer a more traditional relationship with the landscape architect. "The majority of the projects at our firm are contracted traditionally," says Coutu. "It really is the preference of the client." If there are no time constraints on a project, a client may elect for Sudbury Design to solicit competing bids from various contractors. Sudbury Design Group maintains highly respected relationships with many of the construction companies in the area, who look forward to completing projects with the firm.

Through the decades, Sudbury Design Group has developed a reputation throughout New England for excellence and versatility. Its portfolio contains a stunning array of backyard pools and waterfalls, urban roof decks, and public recreational facilities, but not all of its work is found outdoors. In addition to the staff of landscape architects, an in-house building designer enables Sudbury Design to provide architectural services, and the firm has renovated homes top-to-bottom and designed kitchens and pool houses.

"Comprehensive" is a good word to describe the Sudbury Design Group's approach. The firm follows a methodical design process that involves the client at every stage, and when Sudbury Design's landscape architects actually put the client's vision on paper, they pay attention to every detail.

Of all the steps and components that go into a successful landscape design, the initial site analysis and the site development are perhaps the most important. Over the years, site analysis has become an increasingly complex component of any design and construction project. The Sudbury Design Group recognizes this trend and has the expertise to guide even the most difficult projects through this process.

The growing challenge of site analysis and development, while attributable to a number of factors, is mostly due to the nature of the building lots that landscape architects work with today, and the extensive permitting process required for any major new construction or improvements. As time passes, and more and more houses are built, building lots become more awkward and circumscribed. "The availability of suitable building lots is almost non-existent these days," Coutu explains. Most lots are unique, and therefore present a unique challenge. Likewise, obtaining the various permits and approvals that apply to a site can be equally challenging, as any given project might require the approval of local conservation groups, planning and zoning boards, and local historical commissions.

Negotiating the quirks of unwieldy sites and the maze of the permitting process requires a greater level of technical skill on the part of today's landscape architects than ever before. Sudbury Design Group's project managers pride themselves on the expertise, attention to detail, and creativity needed to usher a client's vision through these crucial phases of a project. "Knowing what can and cannot be built, how to build it, and at what cost, is as critical at this stage as during construction, because permits are binding and revisions are costly down the road," Indermuehle points out.

The challenges that have made site development increasingly more difficult have also heightened the importance of collaboration between landscape architects and other professionals involved in a project. For this reason, Sudbury Design project managers interact closely with everyone involved in a project-architects, engineers, interior designers-and fine-tune their master plans accordingly. For instance, many of Sudbury Design's projects involve extensive land planning that accompanies new homes or other major construction projects. In these cases, Sudbury Design looks to partner with the architect to combine the structural and landscape architectural elements into one consistent, harmonious package.

"The best projects are when the architect and landscape architect cooperate at the absolute inception of the project," Coutu says. "We can work with the architect to site the house to avoid any problems down the road. The earlier we're involved, the better."

This spirit of collaboration does not only shape Sudbury Design's interactions with other professionals, it extends within the company as well. Each member of the close-knit Sudbury Design team has unique strengths and talents. Although each project manager maintains his own portfolio of clients, the team's complementary skills and expertise are brought to bear on their colleagues' projects as well. Several minds are better than one, and clients-whether they realize it or not-benefit from the expertise of the entire Sudbury Design team, not just the project manager they work with.

The Sudbury Design Group has deep roots in the Metro West area, a fact that is reflected in the firm's philosophy that each client should be treated as a potential client for life. Any major construction project requires homeowners to place a certain amount of trust in an architect (landscape or otherwise), and throughout its history, Sudbury Design Group has gone to great lengths to earn that trust from its clients. As a result, the firm has developed a number of long-standing working relationships that span decades-even generations. Many of Sudbury Design's clients today are the sons and daughters of clients whom the firm first worked with 35 or 40 years ago.

In this sense, Sudbury Design Group's relationships with its clients are like the landscape they shape: Unlike a home or building, Coutu likes to say, a landscape grows and evolves, and only appreciates with time.