Discover, Create,
Implement

Bartsch Landscape Architecture provides full-service design and project management from exploring opportunities through to the end of construction. We help to bring out the full potential of your property according to a guiding, individualized program developed with each of our clients.

We coordinate the work of

• surveyors
• civil engineers
• horticultural and wetland consultants
• contractors, and
• other team members that contribute to a project’s success

We work in collaboration with

• building architects,
• attorneys, and
• municipal agencies.

Through our comprehensive site design process, we ensure that diverse elements will coalesce into a unified, beautiful, and functional composition that lasts for generations. We develop site designs and plans through scaled drawings to specify the location, arrangement, and integration of:

• Ground surfaces shaped for effective slopes and terrain,
• Sport courts, physical training, and recreation
• Outdoor kitchens, dining, and entertainment areas
• Retaining walls, patios, walkways
• Pergolas, arbors, decks, fences, and other wood or metal structures
• Parking areas and drives
• Gardens and open spaces
• Grading and drainage design
• Exterior site lighting
• Ornamental and functional planting design,
• Water features such as fountains, pools, and spas, and
• Management of myriad constraints and opportunities.

Drawing on decades of experience, we quickly research and assess what is allowed on a site from the state and local government perspective. We also weigh the existing values and the natural potential a property has and what they could become. This gives our clients a clear start to understand their site’s capacity early in the visioning process. Our feasibility studies often include evaluations of:

• Zoning and regulatory constraints
• The site’s context – both physical and cultural
• Existing and proposed utilities and structures
• Resource protection such as wetlands or riverways
• Vehicular and pedestrian circulation and accessibility
• Property values and appropriate budgets
• Visual sightlines, impacts, and opportunities
• Sun angles and prevailing winds
• Soil types, topography, vegetation, and other existing site conditions

Long-term land planning for phased projects not only provides a compelling vision for a property’s future, it also aligns project scope and budget with build-out sequence. Illustrative master plan drawings are our primary deliverables for this work. They aid in graphically depicting:

• Concept-level planning and design
• The overlay process which effectively integrates diverse project factors such as existing and proposed topography, building structures, landscape structures, circulation, vegetation, views, etc.
• Project segment budgets and rating of importance
• The order of phased build-out of project parts or areas

We represent projects independently and in collaboration with local experts.

Our coordination typically includes permit acquisition from

• Planning boards
• Zoning administrators,
• Conservation commissions

We assist with project entitlement by meeting general guidelines for more complex projects or when an agency applies a more subjective interpretation of bylaws, such as

• Historic district commissions
• Design review boards and
• Accessibility agencies.

As an owner’s representative, we help facilitate potential issues that might arise, and we help ensure the design intent is faithfully executed by observing:

• Site preparation for construction,
• Safeguarding of existing elements to be protected,
• Layout of structures, plantings, and grading prior to installation
• Installation of improvements including quantity and quality of materials and the methods by which they’re implemented,
• Builders’ contracts, insurance, requisitions, and invoices to ensure alignment of project expectations and final results
• Close-out procedures and ongoing tasks to ensure establishment of plantings and other sensitive elements