| What
decorative concrete adds to a project
Kevin Crehan is a landscape architect with Nuszer Kopatz,
Denver. His firm designs hardscape areas for developers of
retail centers and housing developments. He almost always
specifies decorative pavement for retail frontages, designing
whatever the budget will permit. His firm uses decorative
pavement and vertical elements to create themes that say "this
is a special area." In housing developments, he specifies
different pavements and treatments to designate outdoor "rooms,"
such as pool decks, picnic areas, and shade areas.
Decorative concrete is important for
marketing, too. Crehan states that developers can justify
the cost for a creative design in terms of how it will affect
the sales pace and create a legacy that ultimately becomes
part of the developer's reputation. He adds that his firm
always uses decorative treatments with discretion.
The
synergistic effect
Clients retain landscape architects, designers, and architects
to add creativity to their projects. Decorative concrete contractors,
on the other hand, are constantly playing with ideas and using
materials in new ways. So does the creativity for a project
come from the designer or the contractor? Both. The most interesting
ideas are generated when a creative designer gets together
with a creative contractor to explore the possibilities. These
sessions can be fun, and often long-term relationships develop.
An example of such a relationship is
Jim Hyatt, a principal partner of EDAW, Denver, and Mike Miller,
owner of "the concretist," Benecia, Calif. EDAW
is the largest landscape firm in the world, with offices in
23 cities and a staff of 750. Hyatt regularly specifies decorative
concrete and has for many years. He likes concrete because
of the many unique things that can be done with it. When his
firm decides to use concrete, "the effort is always to
be creative and original." He met Miller several years
ago, and they have worked on many projects together. "These
days, when I'm involved with a particularly creative design,
I like to get together with Mike during the idea phase of
the design
process and kick around the possibilities.
Mike's very creative, and I like what we come up with together,"
Hyatt says. He knows that without Miller's involvement many
of their projects wouldn't have turned out to be as interesting.
"Mike gets us going, and we create," he adds.
The
driving force behind the decorative concrete movement
Brad Bowman started the decorative concrete movement in the
early 1950s when he developed the process for stamping concrete
impressions. Until he died in 2000 at the age of 90, his mind
played with new, creative ways to use this material., He particularly
liked concrete for its unlimited range of possibility, Those
who are currently moving this industry forward follow in his
footsteps --enjoying the creative process and always keeping
an open mind about new ways to use concrete.
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