Pittman LA: Services

Pittman LA offers the following products and services:

Site planning
Master planning and campus planning
Conceptual design
On-site consultation
Site grading and drainage design
Tree evaluation reports
Tree removal and mitigation plans
Planting plans for permitting or enhancement
Green roof design
Plan permitting
Project management
Wetland restoration plans
Road, driveway, and parking design
Pavements
Pool and fountain design
Outdoor lighting design
Public Participation
Structures
Historic preservation
Presentation rendering
Landscape illustration and painting

Site planning
Good planning is critical for achieving good results. At the site level, this involves taking a comprehensive look at not only the site itself but also its context: its surrounding land uses, neighboring connections, natural environment, history, and cultural value. Within the site, we examine existing and proposed physical processes and functional needs along with aesthetic and historical attributes. Regulatory requirements and constraints are another critical factor in determining the final shape or potential of a site. Our approach is by today’s definition, green. We propose a sustainable site that balances human needs with natural processes.

Master planning and campus planning
Planning at a larger level and for multiple entities is the focus of master planning and campus planning. Often this process involves a steering committee and sometimes public input to address multiple concerns and ideas. As with site planning, our approach is toward a comprehensive site analysis that includes surrounding influences, impacts, and connections in addition to the processes within the site. Our ability to communicate verbally and graphically enables us to consider ideas and solutions quickly and effectively. Products take the form of reports and/or graphic plans that illustrate proposed improvements, directions, policies, and schedules.

Conceptual design
Before final plans are prepared, conceptual sketches and plans provide a quick way to explore design ideas. We prepare yield studies for residential sites to determine unit quantities that consider site, regulatory and engineering constraints. We prepare sketch plans and schematic diagrams to illustrate proposed design directions and the shape of new construction. We provide character sketches that show proposed improvements relative to each other via perspectives, cross sections, and bird’s-eye views. These can enable lay people to easily understand the design direction.

On-site consultation
Not all projects demand or require a detailed plan. Often verbal communication is all that is needed to address client concerns. Many times clients have ideas that simply need reinforcement or a solid reason for whether they are feasible. We are adept at providing input on any variety of issues that deal with the outside environment. We provide on-site consultation on an hourly basis, with a two-hour minimum. We supplement our consultations with field sketches as needed to help clarify or illustrate ideas. We ask that clients provide a 1:1 copy of a current site survey at the time of consultation. This provides important information about a site’s existing conditions.

Site grading and drainage design
Pittman LA is skilled in site grading and drainage design and licensed to provide grading and drainage plans that address stormwater retention requirements. Our contour plans addresses views, landscaping, and access, as well as site drainage. This process is almost always layered with a site development program that considers buildings, sidewalks, steps, parking areas, driveways, and boundaries. We understand the current movement toward stormwater infiltration and Low Impact Design and we place priority in the role this plays in reducing stormwater runoff and meeting LEED certification requirements.

Tree evaluation reports
In addition to being a registered landscape architect, our company principal Buck Pittman is an ISA-certified arborist. This is a dynamic combination. We confirm tree species location and identification, often mislabeled on surveys prepared by professional surveyors. Our reports evaluate tree health and their hazard potential. Our process applies to any site, commercial, industrial, or residential—any place trees pose a hazard or liability or where tree preservation is critical. Our evaluation process is particularly valuable with regard to municipal tree regulations. Our skill in identifying trees that may be classified as non-protected by a municipal code has saved our clients thousands of dollars toward tree mitigation costs.

Tree removal and mitigation plans
We provide tree removal and tree mitigation plans that comply with municipal codes. These plans may be prepared as stand-alone permitting sets or as part of a land development package. We provide these services in concert with our landscape permitting plans or are happy to provide them to clients such as civil engineers that simply need this particular service to comply with a code. In addition to providing tabulations, we excel in tree site planning that considers the feasibility of realistic tree preservation based on a tree’s physical condition, species, location, and aesthetic value.

Planting plans for permitting or enhancement
We love plants. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be in this profession. We prepare planting plans as a matter of course with almost every plan package we do. Sometimes a planting plan is all a project requires, but most often it is part of a comprehensive site development approach that serves as the binding element, unifying a site aesthetically and ecologically. We always consider sustainability in our approach toward planting design and strive for reduced maintenance over time. We prefer a natural approach in planting design and work toward allowing a landscape to mature over time, rather than forcing it to remain in a static state. This approach demands a clear understanding on the front end of long-range maintenance capabilities. We match these capabilities with a design that suits a site’s function, complements the building architecture, and most of all gives a sense of the place as it is now and once was before the hand of man.

Green roof design
Green roofs are not a trend. They will become mandatory features on most new buildings, especially ones with flat roofs. New systems are developing that are lightweight, easy to maintain, and suit typically harsh growing conditions. Many of these systems will enable existing buildings to incorporate a green roof with little or no structural reinforcement. Pittman LA remains at the forefront of this technology. We offer design services for green roofs for new and old buildings. We recommend cistern systems that capture roof runoff for irritation reuse. A green roof with such a system can significantly reduce the area of a retention pond and its associated infrastructure, saving costs in terms of acreage, installation, and maintenance. Green roofs also extend the roof material life and provide added insulation that reduces energy bills.

Plan permitting
We provide permitting services as needed for the plans we produce to ensure compliance with all applicable codes and regulations. We will also assist, where feasible, in providing permitting services for plan packages prepared by others, relying on our experience with agency permitting processes.

Project management
Landscape architects can provide the best service for a client and for a site when given a leading role at the beginning stages of a project. Our site approach toward design and development ensures that all aspects of a design or project are considered and fulfilled. We thrive in a team environment composed of other professionals and stakeholders. Effective communication with the client, within a project team, and with other involved parties is critical. Managing projects at a large scale or small requires the same attention to detail and always relies on constant awareness of a project’s scope, schedule and budget. We excel at balancing all three factors and in bringing a project successfully from concept to closure.

Wetland restoration plans
Wetland restoration may be an unregulated effort to enhance a disturbed wetland or a carefully regulated process for restoring a wetland according to state regulations. We provide both services. In the former case, our understanding of wetland ecology enables us to provide plans for improving the hydrology function of wetlands and for developing appropriate wetland habitats. Different from environmental firms, we also consider wetland aesthetics in preparing these compositions. In the latter case, we provide plans that satisfy permitting requirements for state and local agencies. These may be used to offset wetland impacts to another part of a site or even off-site impacts.

Road, driveway, and parking design
Automobile access and mobility lies at the heart of most site designs for human use. Our project experience covers the breadth of auto-related design from residential driveways to big-box retail parking lots and interstate highways. We understand the requirements for passenger cars as well as fire trucks, tractor trailers, and garbage trucks. Careful consideration of how each of these potential vehicles will access a site or use a road or driveway determines how easily a site will function and how little must be spent later in retro-fitting. We are also very sensitive to pedestrian interface with autos and constantly strive to provide safe environments that are not dominated functionally or visually by the car. We also are skilled in the use of pervious pavements that can reduce stormwater runoff.

Pavements
We excel in providing site-specific design that revolves around human uses, especially at the pedestrian level. Sidewalks are often an afterthought in a typical site design process, but we recognize the importance of safe, efficient, and visually pleasing walkways that connect our outside world. We look for opportunities in every project to improve the function and enjoyment of outdoor space, looking at this as part of our mission to help people reconnect with their environment. Outdoor seating areas, as simple as a single bench or as complex as a civic plaza, are fundamental for outdoor enjoyment and serve as a defining feature of the great places we design. Sidewalks, boardwalks, landings, patios, and plazas are cornerstones of our profession.

Pool and fountain design
Pools and fountains are unquestionably one of the most dynamic and appealing features that we add to a landscape. Whether in the form of grand fountains or serene reflection pools, water has a transformative, healing quality. We excel in designing water features most appropriate for a particular space and intended use. Too often, pools and fountains are generic in form without regard to the user’s needs or the sounding architecture or landscape. Instead, whether custom designed or pre-fabricated, we design the feature to harmonize with existing or proposed surroundings, and with constant regard for the people who will enjoy it.

Outdoor lighting design
Lighting in the landscape can be one of a site’s most memorable and dramatic features. In preparing lighting plans, we consider safety and aesthetics together to achieve a pleasing balance between the two. We work with an electrical engineer to ensure plans meet building code requirements but are not overly lit. Through a combination of fixture types such as path lights, overhead lights, and up-lights, we arrive at a subtle lighting plan that highlights the right features for best effect, yet maintains minimum requirements for visibility, whether in a parking lot or your backyard.

Public Participation
There is only one way to develop public participation skills: experience. Over the years principal landscape architect Buck Pittman has facilitated over thirty public meetings and workshops. Some were small, informal gatherings related to a design or project while others have been large, formal meetings with critical agendas. In every case, the public expects to be informed wants to participate. We provide both, through our process, our communication skills, and our ability to manage a meeting by keeping discussions pertinent and on task. Our most successful venues take the form of a design charrette which allows small groups to work together. We teach them how to find their own solutions and present results in a classic, time-proven format.

Structures
We prepare custom designs for outdoor structures such as retaining walls, perimeter walls, accent walls, seating walls, fences, gates, pergolas, arbors, trellises, decks, benches, and nearly any feature you could imagine in a landscape, even tree houses. We work with architects and engineers when we approach the transition zone between our professional expertise and other’s and to ensure building code requirements are met. Our structures are designed to complement other design elements, functionally and aesthetically.

Historic preservation
We are adept at creating and restoring historic landscapes. We appreciate historic buildings and sites and understand the processes involved in their preservation and restoration. Company principal Buck Pittman served as a member of the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission for six years, also serving as chairman and vice-chairman. Duties included overseeing three historic districts and dozens of Jacksonville historic landmarks. Grants and tax credits are the primary means for enabling historic restoration, a worthy but often expensive process. We work with grant writers and preservation experts to meet design objectives and help owners realize their restoration desires.

Presentation rendering
Our company has been blessed with good hands and good eyes. Some of this is as a result of training and practice, some comes from God. Simply put, we are good at translating design ideas into realistic and compelling images. Whether small perspective drawings or large birds-eye views, we provide graphic images for a project that bring plans to life. We illustrate in bold colors or simple lines what the lay person may not grasp in a technical plan. Our products are professionally prepared using quality materials and current software to match needs with the budget and schedule.

Landscape illustration and painting
Beyond our technical proficiencies, principal LA, Buck Pittman, is an award-winning and talented artist. He studied fine art in high school and college and further developed his appreciation for landscape painting and illustration while obtaining a graduate degree in landscape architecture. His mediums of choice are watercolor and graphite and his style ranges from realistic to softly abstract. We provide drawings and paintings by commission that may be related to a project or site or that may represent a regional landscape.