Creating a Landscape That $ells

Sculptural agave plants were designed and custom fabricated from steel then they were set on stone plinths to elevate their significance as garden ornament.

By Jodie Carter, LASN managing editor, in an exclusive interview with The Collaborative West?EUR??,,????'???s Lance Walker, a landscape architect and project manager on the Trilogy, La Quinta community housing project.

Designing a residential community in upscale La Quinta, Calif. requires high-drama design that takes potential homeowners on a visually stimulating journey

Cascading waterfalls were designed in the auto court, so as guests or residents pull up in their car, roll down their window, and talk to the guard at the gate they feel the air stirred by the waterfalls. ?EUR??,,????'??The concrete work in the auto court is ?EUR??,,????'??brute concrete?EUR??,,????'?? - integrally colored concrete with randomly set pieces of flagstone and large and small hand-seeded aggregates. What you end up with is a rustic, evolved look,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. ?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s cost effective also?EUR??,,????'??+it costs less than flagstone and has more character than regular seeded concrete.?EUR??,,????'??

The planned housing community at Trilogy, La Quinta by Shea Homes for Active Adults, is located at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains in La Quinta, California. The site spans 527 acres and currently includes approximately 1,200 homes. The Collaborative West began its involvement on the project by performing landscape planning and design for the entire community including: stylish announcement and entry monumentation, golf clubhouse, gatehouse auto court, community clubhouse, and 11 model homes.

All perform as elaborate marketing tools to convince home buyer?EUR??,,????'???s that one of the most important decisions in their life?EUR??,,????'??+buying a home?EUR??,,????'??+should be made on more than economics or location?EUR??,,????'??+it should involve finding a space that can fulfill their dreams of comfort, style, luxury and activity.

Past the entry a stand of existing tamarisk trees border the wall. The trees were once a windbreak and now serve as part of the visual sequence.

The Trilogy website, www.trilogylife.com, advertises their planned community homes (available in Arizona, Washington and California) as an active adult living experience. Their slogan ?EUR??,,????'??Welcome to Trilogy, La Quinta, a community designed, not around a street map, but around your heart,?EUR??,,????'?? lets visitors know that Trilogy offers living spaces with the breathtaking beauty of nature while retaining all the comforts and amenities that technology, good planning and creativity can provide. This active adult lifestyle is one that Rick Andreen and Jeff Hinkle of Shea Homes for Active Adults were passionate about.

La Quinta offers three different product (home and lot) sizes. Within each home product, four different floor plans are available. ?EUR??,,????'??This purposeful mix sets a 50-foot-wide home next to a 45-foot-wide home, which might end up next to a 35-foot home lot. This adds diversity to the community,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. Some of the homes have golf course views, and are perfect for active homeowners who want more luxury and don?EUR??,,????'???t mind an increased price point. Other homeowners may choose the same floor plan on an interior lot.

All exterior design elements are coordinated with the desert colors and the buyer profiles.

The Golf Club

The golf club at Trilogy La Quinta is a daily fee 18-hole championship golf course designed by golf course architect Gary Panks. At just under 6,900 yards from the championship tees, the course offers challenge and enjoyment for all skill levels. The five tee locations assure a course length that will fit any player?EUR??,,????'???s game. The Merrill Lynch Skins Game played its second year of a three year contract at Trilogy La Quinta with players Fred Couples, Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam, and Adam Scott

As potential homebuyers drive through the entry gates, they see the announcement sign welcoming them to Trilogy. This journey is all visually choreographed by the landscape architect. ?EUR??,,????'??These people are about to make one of the biggest decisions they make in their life,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. ?EUR??,,????'??When buyers (and owners) drive in, visually we want it to be like the curtain rolls up and they?EUR??,,????'???re looking out across the lake and the golf holes and the Santa Rosa Mountains.?EUR??,,????'??

Marketing Lifestyle

Trilogy?EUR??,,????'???s high-drama marketing approach to customers includes a special 2,000-square-foot tour center where homebuyers watch video presentations that demonstrate that the luxury of home ownership at Trilogy goes far beyond your doorstep?EUR??,,????'??+it extends outside where residents can walk on meandering trails, play the golf course, or just sit by the pool and enjoy the spectacular view.

The design of the Santa Rosa Club and golf course clubhouse takes on a modern approach. This is true of the gatehouse design as well. The landscape architectural style is bold and contemporary, while the residential architect took on a more traditional approach. The main home styles include Spanish, Santa Barbara and Mediterranean.,

Large concrete spheres are designed to recall oversized golf balls. They are located in the back yard of one of the model homes where one of the tees for the 6th hole is located. The concrete spheres are a product made by Quick Crete

But none of these elements of style were rendered without keeping the ultimate goal in mind?EUR??,,????'??+to sell homes to buyers. ?EUR??,,????'??Potential home buyers are taken through a visual journey as they drive through the entry monuments, go past the golf course and into the auto court where a gated entry restricts access into the residential area. ?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s interesting,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker, ?EUR??,,????'??most entry gates in the Coachella Valley occur closer to the public street. Anyone can get past the gates (and guards) by saying they are going to the public golf course. At Trilogy we set the gates further back into the property, behind the entry to the golf clubhouse, restricting access into the residential areas?EUR??,,????'??+it gives the entry a better look and offers better security for residents.?EUR??,,????'?? Past the entry gates a large stand of existing Tamarisk trees were preserved. These trees were once a wind break and now they serve as part of the visual sequence. As one comes to the end of the trees and turns the corner, the Santa Rosa Club and the mountains behind, for which the Club is named, are aligned axially. This was an important part of the site plan.

The plant material?EUR??,,????'??+lots of pastel greens which are accented by the walls and walkways?EUR??,,????'??+is desert compatible. The walls provide color, for a very striking effect.

Creating Memory Points

?EUR??,,????'??Our firm is known for design so we needed to create a dramatic and memorable experience for potential home-buyers,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. ?EUR??,,????'??The idea at La Quinta was to create actual ?EUR??,,????'??memory points?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??+visual memories that they will walk away with and sit down later and talk about.?EUR??,,????'?? These are memory-making design ideas?EUR??,,????'??+it?EUR??,,????'???s the landscape architecture, it?EUR??,,????'???s the architecture, it?EUR??,,????'???s the interiors, it?EUR??,,????'???s the branding?EUR??,,????'??+it?EUR??,,????'???s even the first person that greets you when you walk in the door at the Sales Center.?EUR??,,????'?? From a marketing and merchandising standpoint?EUR??,,????'??+?EUR??,,????'??Even if it?EUR??,,????'???s the idea that you install a swimming pool in the backyard of a model home?EUR??,,????'??+the potential homeowners see that these things are possible in their backyard,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. ?EUR??,,????'??We are selling and marketing lifestyle to an active adult community that?EUR??,,????'???s 55 years and better. When designing for this group, we need to see them as they see themselves?EUR??,,????'??+young and active. This type of buyer is interested in more than a home?EUR??,,????'??+they want a residential resort lifestyle. The community is designed around that idea.?EUR??,,????'??

The Trilogy marketing package emphasizes ?EUR??,,????'??lifestyle and amenities?EUR??,,????'?? for active adults who, as Trilogy homeowners, enjoy a four-lane 75?EUR??,,????'??? long competitive indoor/outdoor swimming pool, a passive resort pool and spa, barbecues and exterior fireplace areas, two bocce ball courts, four tennis courts, weight room, outdoor bike paths, and classes on everything from painting landscapes, cooking, aerobics and ballroom dancing to navigating the Web.

Interior Exterior Relationships

?EUR??,,????'??Each model home features an interior design that flows into the outdoors,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. ?EUR??,,????'??This includes design consistency between the interior/exterior relationships, the finishes of the surfaces and so on.?EUR??,,????'?? We started with interior materials and brought those out so that the interior reads to the outside. This includes working off the interior flooring patterns and color schemes. Spas, fireplaces and exterior furnishings such as chaise lounges, outdoor dining tables, and pottery were all coordinated with the buyer profiles.

This creates a cohesive design which potential homebuyers can identify with.

Bridging the interiors of the Trilogy?EUR??,,????'???s homes to the exteriors in the Coachella Valley is a key component of the landscape design. This design starts with the interior materials, bringing those outdoors, by working off the interior flooring and colors. Furnishings located outside, pottery and outdoor cushions were selected to unify colors relating to the interior and exterior.

Designing for Personalities

?EUR??,,????'??To make the design come ?EUR??,,????'??alive,?EUR??,,????'?? the design team actually creates buyer profiles - made up fictional people who simulate a potential homebuyer; a couple that might own one of these homes,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. ?EUR??,,????'??One model plan lists faux owners Paul and Linda, who are traders of modern rock memorabilia and big Beatles collectors. Their home?EUR??,,????'???s interior and exterior spaces are modeled to fit this faux couple?EUR??,,????'???s ?EUR??,,????'??personality?EUR??,,????'?? well. We try to take that same design exercise out to the exterior.?EUR??,,????'?? Good examples are what Walker calls memory point features. We designed a floating lyric sculpture on the Paul and Linda (?EUR??,,????'??Beatles?EUR??,,????'?? collector) model home. The lyric, ?EUR??,,????'??Let it be,?EUR??,,????'?? was cut in steel and anchored in the ground, hovering just above a hedge. This is just one example of how the landscape design reflects the owner?EUR??,,????'???s personality.

Another model home includes a custom spa in the backyard that includes a modern runnel that spills into a raised spa. This design is less traditional. The stone used in the spa is a quartzite in a random pattern which looks similar to flagstone but is actually a hard stone that will not flake off in the water like softer natural flagstone.

The square gate design pattern (right), described as Mid-century Desert Modernism, is reminiscent of concrete masonry blocks that were used in the ?EUR??,,????'??50s and ?EUR??,,????'??60s. The walls are designed to resemble ?EUR??,,????'??desert concrete,?EUR??,,????'?? a Frank Lloyd Wright term used to describe the construction technique where concrete and stone are mixed together and poured in layer. Colors were selected which are found in the desert environment.

Design features

Concrete spheres draw visual attention to the back yard of one of the model homes. This area sits right next to the number-six tee box, which is a signature hole adjacent to the Santa Rosa Club. ?EUR??,,????'??What we did was work with the golf course group and designed a ?EUR??,,????'??false tee?EUR??,,????'?? so it looks like the tee is in this owners backyard. This extends the visual boundary of the backyard?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. The concrete spheres are a product made by Quick Crete.

Framing Views

Another interesting feature is the design of the model-home road. ?EUR??,,????'??We designed a 20?EUR??,,????'??? wide road that is narrower than the actual installed road will be (planned at 36 feet wide from curb to curb). We proposed a concrete-paver road because we didn?EUR??,,????'???t want it to be a sea of asphalt. We specified large trees close to the road to create an enhanced look?EUR??,,????'??+so that the model area looks more like a park?EUR??,,????'??+not a street. ?EUR??,,????'??You still get the character of the street as it will be, while providing fire access?EUR??,,????'??+but not as harsh,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. ?EUR??,,????'??We specified big trees and spent lot of time selecting the right tree - making sure that, visually, the architectural elevations were anchored on the corners and key views were framed.?EUR??,,????'??

Entry Gate

The community entry gates have a recall to mid century desert modernism?EUR??,,????'??+they are custom designed gates hanging from inverse battered columns (wider at the top than at the base). ?EUR??,,????'??The walls are higher than the columns, which help gives it a modern character,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker. The gate pattern is reminiscent of the concrete masonry blocks that you would see used in the ?EUR??,,????'??50s and ?EUR??,,????'??60s.

Once again, these elements of style were specified while pursuing the ultimate goal?EUR??,,????'??+to sell homes to buyers. ?EUR??,,????'??What?EUR??,,????'???s interesting about this type of upscale community design approach,?EUR??,,????'?? says Walker, ?EUR??,,????'??is the scale?EUR??,,????'??+it is such a large community with so many considerations, it?EUR??,,????'???s about setting this community apart from all of the other choices home buyers have.?EUR??,,????'??

About The Collaborative West

The Collaborative West, Inc provides state-of-the-art professional services for landscape architecture, environmental design, planning and urban design.

Principals include: Paul Logue Haden, ASLA; Craig Thibault, Tom Masline, and William R. Crook.

• Silver Award for landscape design on Windward, Newport Coast, Calif.
• Special Award of Excellence for Estates at Cielo in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
• Grand Award for Detached Community of the Year for Estates at Cielo, in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

?EUR??,,????'??The Collaborative West is poised to respond to any design challenge. We are a 45 person landscape architectural design firm with offices in San Clemente, California and Phoenix, Arizona?EUR??,,????'?? says Paul Haden, President of The Collaborative West. ?EUR??,,????'??We have five teams of landscape architects and designers who work on 5000 acre community master plans to half-acre sites. Our focus is on the relationships that we build with our clients and the people we work with.?EUR??,,????'??