#Keyscape landscape software#
It’s only within the last few decades that the design industries started transitioning to digital methods, and the switch to CAD software has primarily meant using AutoCAD, with most professionals in the landscape sectors relying on the program for its familiarity and compatibility. FPCR’s landscape architecture team thus needed to be able to specify hedges differently than what Vectorworks Landmark was capable of at the time. It bears clarification: though the term “hedge” in other countries may imply a singular plant defining a border between spaces, in the UK, hedge planting tends to be mixed, incorporating different species and plant arrangements. The work-around was to use a landscape area, which couldn’t measure native hedgerows in plants by linear meter. One problem encountered by FPCR when proposing these hedgerows was the absence of a tool in Vectorworks that allowed them to create a mix. Designers insert plant symbols created with the Plant tool into softscapes to indicate general placement of plants, their location determined by a distribution rate set by designers.įor a while, FPCR used the Landscape Area tool to design mixed-species hedgerows, which are present in many of their schemes. The Landscape Area tool visualizes softscape areas and works in tandem with the Plant tool to develop general plant massings. The direct connection between design layer and worksheet allows automatic updates to reports when changes occur. These plant resources contain information such as species and scheduled size and this information can be used to easily generate reports and schedules. FPCR and many other landscape architects maintain a library of standard plant resources they know they’ll use again.
The Plant tool can create plant resources that can be inserted into drawings from project to project. The software was introduced in response to requirements of BIM projects, along with the desire to improve workflows. But FPCR have shown that in-house collaboration yields distinct advantages, advantages that cement them as one of the UK’s leading design and environmental practices.Īnd lately, Vectorworks Landmark has seen a surge in use in this historically AutoCAD-based office. The structure is somewhat unusual for a multidisciplinary firm, with architecture being one of the smaller teams. FPCR is truly multi-disciplinary, often taking on projects that involve both architectural and landscape elements, or any combination of the aforementioned disciplines. Their 140 staff members are managed by 8 directors, and the practice is structured into specialized teams for the areas mentioned above. Their history of over 65 years as a practice has awarded them stellar successes across a wide range of projects. FPCR is a UK environmental practice whose core skills comprise master planning, urban design, environmental assessment, landscaping, ecology, arboriculture, and architecture.