Welcome
Greetings!
Thanks for visiting our website - and for giving our blog a read. Arcadia Studio's designers will post notes here on a broad range of landscaping topics - be it sustainable design, plant palettes, a good book or article, site work, LEED certification - just about anything we come across that incites us to write up a post.
We launched this blog recently, so its not yet brimming with content, but we're keen on growing it into a resource where those interested in landscape design go to see what's new in the field, what interesting things we're coming across, and what issues we're grappling with in the pursuit of landscape design.
If you have any questions about what you read here - or about Arcadia Studio in general - we'd be more than happy to chat with you. Just give us a call or drop us an e-mail
Padaro project wins top award
A project Arcadia Studio has had the pleasure of being integral in bringing to fruition received the top honor in the custom built homes category at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference annual Golden Nugget ceremony. (We featured the project on our blog last year when it was gathering attention locally.) Here's the judge's statement:
""Wow… this 7,800 sq. ft. home was designed to be sustainable and multi-generational structure that features separate enclaves. The interior courtyard is a modern retreat from wind and exterior sound and is the core of the dwelling. Utilizing recycled surfaces and reclaimed materials the home becomes a responsible dwelling with energy performance exceeding Title 24 by 50%. Careful attention was paid to the development of personal enclaves for extended family and guests alike."
Started 50 years ago, the PCBC is a community of builders and manufacturers, building scientists and architects, environmental engineers and landscape companies, working together to advance the art and science of community building.
Puck’s essay in Pacific Horticulture Magazine
Our very own Puck Erickson contributed an informative, heartfelt, and inspiring essay to the summer edition of Pacific Horticulture, which one can order from the publication's website by clicking here.
Puck tells the tale of designing a sustainable - and sustaining - garden in the Santa Barbara foothills. This particular garden survived two devastating local wild fires in the past several years. Puck unpacks this headstrong landscape's narrative to demonstrate her belief in the power of the garden to serve as, "a mirror of our own endurance," she writes. "The garden is an expression of the vitality of organic systems whose diversity and synergy allow for continued rebirth...little by little."
The magazine also published a slide show companion to the piece on its website - one little mouse click away.
It's a great publication, we're proud to be a part of this issue, and if you're interested in West Coast gardening, it's a must subscribe.
Thanks to all for a successful Earth Day.
A great time was had by all at the weekend Earth Day celebration (April 17-18). It seems everyone in Santa Barbara stopped by the park at one point or another. But if you missed it, here are a few short videos from the Green Homes Pavilion Arcadia Studio helped develop.
A quick overview of the native plants on display:
Our very own Bob Cunningham chatting up some friends, and a look at a sampling of permeable hardscapes:
And live music to boot...
Thanks to all who came out to see us, and if you have any questions about what you saw in the display, please look us up!
Arcadia Studio would also like to thank the Community Environmental Council, and all the designers, installers, and vendors that volunteered their time and money to make the Green Home Pavilion a success. We spoke with hundreds of people about how to make their garden more sustainable, and look forward to continuing to be a resource for the community.
Join Us For Earth Day
We'll have a significant presence this year at the Earth Day festival in Alameda Park the weekend of April 17 and 18. If you've never been to the annual Earth Day festival in Santa Barbara, it's a great excuse to get out for some festival food, music, and various displays featuring sustainable practices, good, and services. It's a fun time, and we'd love to see you at our booth. We'll be set up by the sustainable home showcase. Come and say hi!
Here's some more detailed info about the festival.
Derrik appointed to Montecito Board of Architectural Review
A press release:
Derrik Eichelberger, a founding principal of Arcadia Studio, a leading Central Coast landscape architectural firm based in Santa Barbara, was appointed to the Montecito Board of Architectural Review in March.
Mr. Eichelberger has himself guided numerous residential projects – both large and small – through the MBAR process. He brings to this process an astute understanding of Montecito’s historical significance, geography, and culture.
Having previously served on the City of Santa Barbara Architectural Board of Review (1998 - 2006), and the Goleta Old Town Design Guidelines Committee (1999-2001), Mr. Eichelberger is looking forward to once again lending insight and expertise to a board with a mission of preserving its region's world class aesthetic, both natural and designed.
Mr. Eichleberger’s broad range of experience as a landscape architect includes master planning, urban design, resource management, as well as site specific landscape design. His experience as a designer has been cultivated by work on a wide range of projects throughout the Southern California area. Trained first as an historian, before receiving his Masters degree in Landscape Architecture, Mr. Eichelberger maintains an ongoing interest in California history.
Arcadia featured in Dining and Destinations Mag
The Spring/Summer edition of Dining and Destinations Magazine contains a glowing article featuring the residential work of one of Arcadia's founding Principals, Derrik Eichelberger. You can see the full article at SBDIGS.COM. The print edition of Dining and Destination is widely available around town. It's a great guide to local art, fashion, food, and the like. The magazine's website can be found here.
Arcadia raising money for Haiti relief
In response to the ongoing crisis in earthquake ravaged Haiti, Arcadia Studio is offering a unique way to contribute to the relief effort: two hours of consultation with one of our landscape architects in exchange for a Haiti-designated, $250 or greater donation to Direct Relief International, a leading aid organization based right here in Santa Barbara.
This offer will run through February 28th.
Please consider this method of helping DRI deliver desperately needed aid to the people of Haiti.
For details, contact Justin Dullum at:
805 962 9055
If you’re interested in simply donating to DRI, click here.
If you would like to learn more about the value Arcadia Studio can add to your donation, please peruse our portfolio.
We've been circulating a flier with this info. A PDF of it can be viewed and downloaded from here.
Thank you for your consideration - and please pass it on.
Arcadia featured in Feb. issue of Santa Barbara magazine
Arcadia Studio is honored to have a project featured in the February/March edition of Santa Barbara magazine.
The featured landscape's design and installation, headed by Laurie Romano, one of Arcadia's Principals, was four years in the making. The opportunity to work on a property with such stunning natural beauty was both humbling and thrilling. Both Laurie and her husband, Keith Rivera, who designed the house, are interviewed in the article. Here's an excerpt - Laurie discusses the reflecting pool:
"It brings the ocean in when you're sitting down, and you also have a sculptural piece that is active and bounces light under the eaves. We developed it when the house was under construction. We actually set up chairs on the concrete slab and set the level of the four-sided infinity edge within the owner's sight lines. The surface material is porcelain tile made to look like Corten steel - it was a great find."
Rain Barrels Collect A Valuable Resource
It rarely rains in Santa Barbara, and when it does, it's an event as remarkable as the first sunny spring day after a long Chicago winter.
During a recent storm, I put on my rain gear and went for a walk. I watched rainwater sheet off my roof, down the driveway, and into the road. I followed the runoff down the street and into a gutter, which bore the sign "Flows straight to ocean". Sadly, i had just witnessed the entire suburban hydrologic cycle.
We have designed a build environment that, for the most part, treats water as a waste product to be disposed of as quickly as possible. The reality is just the opposite however - rain water is a precious resource.
The City of Santa Barbara realizes that water conservation is vital to the future of our community. They have been supplying rain barrels to residents for half price. We picked some up and installed them, and as I write, the new barrels are filling up in my backyard. (Info on City's earlier barrel program and the cost is still posted here. The City may "roll out" a new batch of barrels in the spring.)
Here are some photos of our new rain catchment system. We elevated the barrels to provide pressure at the outflow. They are piped together so they fill up and drain together. As you can see they fit in a small side yard. Rain barrels or a cistern are an economical way to decrease the amount of potable water that you use in the garden.
There are lots of options for rain catchment systems, from highly engineered underground cisterns to small scale residential systems like this one. Arcadia Studio understands the importance of water conservation and explores water catchment systems for our clients whenever possible.
Chlorine-free natural swimming pools
Have you ever gone swimming in a mountain pond and enjoyed the freshness of the water – perfectly clear, without a trace of chlorine? What if you could have a backyard pool that used nature’s water cleansing systems instead of chemicals, which kill everything in the pool short of the swimmer?
A team of German researchers and designers has done just that. Here’s the basic idea: the pool is divided into two roughly equal sized areas: a swimming zone, and a regeneration zone. The swimming zone is not really any different than a “normal” pool - it can be a lap pool, or a bean shaped pool, or a pond. The regeneration zone, however, is where interesting things happen.
Water spills over from the swimming zone into the regeneration zone, where aquatic plants rooted in gravel act as a biofilter. Water cleansing is achieved with zooplankton, phytoplankton, and water plants. As the water filters through the plants’ root zones and a sediment filter tank, all the impurities are essentially “eaten” by natural microorganisms.
This year's ASLA conference included a lecture by Ranier Grafinger and James G.Robyn, two pioneers in the industry, who presented a slideshow of successful natural swimming pool projects in Europe. Even public swimming pools, used by hundreds of people a day, are kept sanitary without the use of chemicals. Natural swimming pools, it seems, are the way of the future for those interested in decreasing chemical exposure and enhancing the swimming experience.
If you are interested in more information on natural swimming pools, contact meg@arcadiastudio.com
Exciting new local developments in greywater usage
Ever wondered where the water goes after you take a shower? It probably goes down the drain and mixes with sewage and all the junk that you pour down the drain, then ends up at a treatment plant, where chemicals are used to clean the water before it's released into the ocean. For years, sustainability experts have bemoaned the fact that shower and laundry runoff, called greywater, is not re-purposed to water plants. There are lots of good reasons to do this - to save water, save money, reduce infrastructure costs, and decrease chemical use.
A couple years ago, I built an outdoor shower in my suburban backyard. I love my outdoor shower. Its runoff keeps my tree ferns and pink ginger and bananas lush; these subtropical plants thrive on water that would otherwise be wasted. I pretend that I’m in Hawaii when I’m taking a shower in my greywater garden. It never ceases to please me to watch the runoff fill little mulch-filled troughs and go straight to my thirsty plants. Hard to believe that something so innocuous was, until recently, illegal.
But times have changed. Policy advocates and officials have finally re-written the section of the California building code pertaining to greywater, making it legal. It's about time.
The City of Santa Barbara has taken a leading role in the process, and is now promoting a permit-less laundry to landscape system, encouraging people to re-use soapy laundry water in a simple system fine-tuned by our own local greywater expert, Art Ludwig. His website,Oasis Design, is a wealth of information about greywater and its uses.
Arcadia Studio is excited about this opportunity to be part of California’s efforts to reduce the use of potable water in the landscape, and we're eager to incorporate these sensibilities into our designs.
Mesa Architects challenge neighborhood problems through collaborative thinking
The Mesa Architects, a volunteer community group of Mesa residents who also happen to be architects and urban designers, have been grappling with ways to strengthen their community by promoting improved transportation systems, better access to recreational opportunities, creation of new community centers, and increased awareness of sustainable design. Arcadia Studio's Derrik Eichelberger, the lone landscape architect in the group, joined with Dennis Thompson, David Van Hoy, Jeff King, Jim Bell, John Kelley, Tom Morrison and Chris Cotrell last December, and has been active working on streetscape improvements to Cliff Drive designed to slow traffic and make it safer and more pleasant for cars, bikes and pedestrians.
An interactive web-site highlighting the work of the Mesa Architects can be accessed at MesaVillage.org. In addition, many of the ideas the group has been working on have been presented to great acclaim at several public workshops, and is now being added to the upcoming comprehensive planning document being prepared by the City of Santa Barbara as a model of development for the Mesa.
Arcadia’s UCSB Housing Project is LEED Gold
The movement towards building sustainable landscapes and architecture marches forward, and Arcadia Studio is always proud to see one of its projects take the lead, or in this case, LEED. Inexpensive pun aside, the University of California's San Clemente Student Housing Project has officially been given a "Gold" rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is a stringent 100 point based design guideline that awards projects points for specific attributes of sustainability. For a project to achieve a Gold rating, it must gather a minimum of 60 points, which is no small feat. The press release explains that a lack of green standards for housing or residence hall construction forced the design team to get creative. "A lot of hard work went into this," said Wilfred Brown, executive director of UCSB's Housing & Residential Services. "We had to look at what was being done for industrial construction, for new classrooms, or laboratories, and adapt it for housing."
Arcadia's Senior Associate Landscape Architect Brian Brodersen led our design effort on this project. Congratulations, Brian ~
The full announcement lives here, as do pictures of the project.
The Stunning Beauty of Padaro Lane
I might be biased, but I believe there are few places as beautiful as Santa Barbara. And within Santa Barbara, there are few places as stunning as Padaro Lane.
No wonder, then, that the fortunate flock there like seagulls to an abandoned picnic. Driving along Padaro Lane is like flipping through the pages of an architecture magazine. In the distance, Rincon Point drapes over the misty horizon. Dolphins cavort in the gentle surf. No kidding.
Two exciting new projects on Padaro Lane have been taking shape over the last two years which highlight Arcadia Studio’s contemporary side.
3453 Padaro Lane, designed by Derrik Eichelberger, was recently completed. It is infused with a light-hearted sense of fun that was the direct result of the owner’s desire to design a garden that was ‘amusing’. Photos of the front garden, fountain, and some of the rear garden are posted here.
Just down the road, a contemporary jewel is nearing completion. Designed by husband and wife team Laurie Romano and Keith Rivera, of Arcadia Studio and B3 Architecture respectively, the house and garden combine minimalist design and lavish living.
The thoroughly contemporary project avoids seeming stark or cold with well-chosen materials – ipe, bamboo, plaster, limestone, and glass. The structure's center of gravity reaches overhead - the result of an interesting second story overhang designed as a separate wing. Visitors will enjoy a spectacular glass fountain and lush courtyard as they enter.
The private oceanfront outdoor living space is complete with an outdoor kitchen, in-ground spa, vanishing edge water feature, and sunken firepit. Construction photos are posted here.
The Landscape Architects at Arcadia Studio dream of places like Padaro Lane to showcase our work. We have been fortunate to attract clients that share our appreciation for contemporary design and excellent craftsmanship.
Buellton Botanic Garden becoming a reality
The clouds embraced Buellton's rolling hills on Saturday as nature-lovers assembled near Riverview Park to celebrate breaking ground at the Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden. For the past four years, a devoted group of Valley locals has been rallying support and securing funding for the project. The mood was giddy as the crowd socialized and surveyed the 2 acre site, imagining what it will look like when it's completed.
The idea of creating a Botanic Garden dedicated to the riparian ecosystems of the Santa Ynez Valley started when River View Park was still a concept on Arcadia Studio's drawing boards. The site was home to the willow flycatcher, a small songbird that has been on the endangered species list since 1995. Land had to be set aside adjacent to the park to provide habitat for the displaced bird.
That's when Puck Erickson Lohnas, one of the founders of Arcadia Studio and a longtime Valley resident, saw an opportunity to educate the public and increase awareness of her bioregion's native habitat. A committee was formed who then cajoled friends and family into donating time and money, and created a concept that garnered widespread support. A local environmental group, WEWATCH, help provide initial support to ensure the project could move ahead.
The team took on a number of challenges along the way, including initial skepticism from the City Council. In the end, however, Buellton donated the land for the garden, as well as seed money, and individual donors bought trees, which will be planted in time for Arbor Day.
"It hasn't been an easy path." said Mayor Hicks, as he sunk his golden shovel into the earth.
The Botanic Garden needs volunteers to help plant trees this spring, and of course, always needs donations. For more information contact Kyle Abello Buellton Recreation Coordinator.
Meg West Published In ASLA Journal
The January '09 edition of the American Society of Landscape Architects' monthly journal features a letter written by Arcadia Studio's Meg West. Meg, a devoted conservationist, Yogini, and all around swell gal offers her fellow landscape architects a ray of optimism amidst economic crisis. The journal, Landscape Architecture, does not post letters on its website, but you can read Meg's below.
If you were asleep for the past month, you might have missed the end of credit as we know it and the historic election of Barack Obama. Wage freezes, layoffs, and difficulty getting projects will likely continue. Is there a silver lining to all this scary news?
Al Gore, Honorary ASLA, wrote in the New York Times recently, "Here is the good news: the bold steps that are needed to solve the climate crisis are exactly the same steps that ought to be taken in order to solve the economic crisis and the energy security crisis."
Or, to put it another way:
"When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters: one represents danger (w_i) and the other represents opportunity (j_)." - John F. Kennedy, 12 April 1959.
What are the opportunities that Landscape Architects should be aware of?
1. Educate yourself about sustainable practices and market them to your clients
Here is a real opportunity for Landscape Architects to lead clients and design teams toward more environmentally friendly practices. Many of us have been passionate about this topic for years, and the economic crisis has provided us with an opportunity to market green in a new way. Municipal and commercial clients will be more receptive then ever to ideas that combine saving money with saving the environment. Residential clients will be amenable to removing lawns and planting native plants if your concept is beautifully designed and presented. Educate yourself about the options and commit to a real marketing effort for sustainability. Have the courage to use your knowledge and design skills to show how things can be done differently!
2. Lead by example
Instead of spending time worrying about the economy, do something that saves you money and decreases your resource consumption. Can you take the bus or ride your bike to work? Set a goal for a paperless office and start filing things electronically? Make a change to your house to become more energy efficient? Are you always too busy to spend time on projects of this nature? You might have a little more time on your hands these days - use it to change something in your lifestyle that has an impact, no matter how small.
3. Landscape Architects as leaders and visionaries
As population growth continues, and humans continue to impact more and more of the planet, we require visionary designers to create a new paradigm. Razing land to build strip malls and constructing endless jam-packed highways is clearly a thing of the past. Our future landscape can be as efficient, sustainable, and beautiful as our most inspired designs. Dare I say it……"Yes, we can!"
Derrik Talks Firescaping In The Montecito Journal
Derrik Eichelberger, one of the Principal architects here at Arcadia, is a guest columnist in the December 18 edition of the Montecito Journal. The recent Tea Fire has left many locals with not much to sift through beyond memories and ashes. Hundreds of homes were destroyed, and a few of our clients were among the unfortunate. We all know someone who was directly affected by the fire, and the community is rallying to support victims struggling through the aftermath.
As residents slowly begin to rebuild and repair, Derrik's article offers some suggestions for designing "firescape" environments that minimize damages from a blaze:
"Our office increasingly uses succulents and cactus as a staple of our design palette. Plants like Agave, Aloe, Cotyledon, Crassula and others have appeared in Santa Barbara County landscapes for years, admired most notably for their structural form, gorgeous flowers and foliage color and their ability to flourish in our arid gardens with very little water. What many designers and homeowners alike are coming to realize is that these plants are ideal as landscape plants for fire protection."
The Montecito Journal hasn't posted the edition online yet, and we'll link to it here once they do.
Two Good Firescape Guides
Here are two good resources if you want to do more research on firesafe landscapes.
Book:
By Douglas Kent
This book describes what types of properties and landscapes are higher-risk, how to make a home more accessible to fire-fighters, and what to do to minimize the chances that a home will be damaged or destroyed by a wildfire. It covers fire-safe fencing and roofing materials, has tips on using water efficiently, gives best methods of effective vegetation removal, and provides versatile and comprehensive plant lists and maintenance calendars useful for those living in California’s diverse climate zones.
Web Page:
City of Santa Barbara high fire zone landscape guidelines
These are the minimum requirements Landscape Architects have to meet when we are designing a landscape in a high-fire risk area in order to get approval from the city. Important factors include: plant selection, spacing, and buffer zones. We are also required to specify a very general maintenance program for the landscape. However, the Landscape Architect is rarely involved with the maintenance of projects in perpetuity, so it is important for homeowners to be familiar with maintenance guidelines, and meet or exceed the guidelines in this document.
LEED Study Group An Eye Opener
As a few members of the staff and I study for the LEED certification test, we're struck by the system's attention to detail.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has been developed by the US Green Building Council as a way to quantify a project’s sustainability. Five brave Arcadians have committed to taking the test in spring 2009. Being LEED certified will help us guide projects toward a higher level of sustainability.
One of the things that amazes us as we go through the dense study guide is the amount of thought that has gone into the system. Imagine – you are making up guidelines for architects and builders all over the country. Big cities, small towns, cold climates or deserts – this system has to be inclusive enough to span the wide geography of the states, yet specific enough to actually measure something. The more we learn, the more respect we have for the rating system.
One of the many applications of LEED certification is that it helps us avoid “greenwashing”. Arcadia gets inundated with fliers and emails about this or that new green product. How do we differentiate between the truly green products and those that have just been re-named and re-packaged? By researching and implementing products that truly decrease the carbon footprint of our projects, we provide examples of beautiful, low-impact designs.
Our collective respect for the nuanced details of the LEED system makes me more excited to become certified - I think I’ll go memorize some EPA standards!
I'll be posting more about what practical applications of LEED we're discovering as the study group forges on towards the test. Click here for more info on LEED.