In a word, the project pictured in these pages is about the power and value of collaboration.
   I was originally called in to consult on the planting design for a backyard in need of remodeling. A couple of months into the process, the clients informed me that they hated their existing pool and asked me if I knew of a pool contractor named Randy Beard, who had worked with them previously on another of their residences. I offered to contact Beard and discuss the project with him: We had known about each other for years, mostly through WaterShapes columns and articles, but to that point we'd never had the opportunity to work together.
   The clients had said they wanted to remove the spa from the pool and perhaps raise it to create a spillway into the pool. Beard and I quickly came to the same conclusion: Revamping the pool would neither be cost-effective nor would it achieve the outcome the clients desired. Pointed discussions and budget reviews led to the determination that the existing pool/spa combination should be abandoned in favor of something that worked better to generate a sense of space, greater functionality and enhanced aesthetic appeal.
   Although we didn't set out to tackle the project as a team, Beard and I wound up working hand in glove with a synergy that was valuable to both of us - especially in approaching a complex project for most particular clients.
an exterior gallery
   Coordination was the key, but experience played its part, too, as Beard had worked with the couple before on a similarly complex project at another of their homes. We knew going in that these clients demanded quality in all aspects of the project and that they understood what that meant with respect to budget.
   From the design standpoint, the fact that they were interested in obtaining exactly what they wanted opened up the process to a huge range of possibilities and a number of detailed discussions. They were quick to dismiss ideas they didn't like and weren't particularly hasty in committing to those they did. Given Beard's experience with them, we were ready for this sort of give and take.
   It was immediately apparent that they liked having options for everything from big ideas about the basic layout to the specifics of material selections and small hardscape and landscape details. .
   In other words, the design process evolved and indeed continued to do so through various constructions phases. I knew from the outset that the clients were focused on art and the paintings and sculptures that filled their homes, for example, but as I became more familiar with them, I saw that their lives really did revolve around art and that what they wanted most was to put it on display.