Every recurring meeting across the landscape project lifecycle, from first client consultation through to post-occupancy — with its purpose, goal and typical agenda.
First meeting with a prospective client to understand their site, ambitions and constraints.
Establish whether the practice and client are a good fit, and gather enough information to scope a fee proposal.
Present the scope of services and fee structure for the project.
Secure client agreement to proceed and appointment on clear terms.
A structured session to capture the client brief in detail before design work begins.
Produce a written brief the design team can work from with minimal ambiguity.
Walk the site together to ground the brief in the physical reality of the location.
Build shared understanding of site opportunities and constraints before design starts.
Internal kick-off translating the client brief into a design team task.
Ensure every team member understands the brief, constraints and success criteria before design starts.
Present initial design concepts to the client for feedback and direction.
Secure client buy-in on a preferred design direction to take into technical design.
Internal quality check on the design before it is issued externally.
Catch design, coordination and compliance issues while they are still cheap to fix.
Agree the approach to securing planning permission for the scheme.
Align the design and planning consultant on submission strategy and risk areas.
Present proposals to the local community and gather feedback.
Build community support and identify concerns early enough to address them in the design.
Coordinate landscape design with architecture, structural, civil and M&E disciplines.
Resolve cross-discipline conflicts before they reach technical drawings.
Focused session resolving a specific interface issue between disciplines.
Close out a defined coordination problem with an agreed solution.
Check technical specifications for accuracy, buildability and compliance.
Issue a specification the contractor can price and build from without ambiguity.
Review the design against budget to find savings without compromising quality.
Agree a set of cost-saving changes the client and design team are both comfortable with.
Review the design for health and safety risks during construction, maintenance and use.
Discharge principal designer duties under CDM 2015 and reduce risk to a reasonably practicable level.
Informal discussion with the local planning authority before formal submission.
Identify the planning officer's key concerns early, while the design can still change cheaply.
Align the landscape and planning consultant teams ahead of submission.
Ensure planning strategy and landscape evidence tell a consistent story to the authority.
Present the scheme directly to elected planning committee members.
Secure committee approval, or at minimum a clear steer on what would secure it.
Agree the information needed to discharge landscape-related planning conditions.
Get conditions formally discharged so construction is not held up.
Final coordination meeting before the contractor mobilises on site.
Ensure everyone is aligned on programme, information and responsibilities before site work begins.
Formally hand over design information and site knowledge to the contractor.
Give the contractor everything they need to price and build the scheme without repeated queries.
Regular review of construction progress against programme.
Catch programme slippage and quality issues early enough to act on them.
Independent inspection of workmanship and compliance with specification.
Verify that what's being built on site matches what was designed and specified.
Resolve day-to-day construction issues between the contractor and design team.
Keep small issues small by resolving them quickly rather than letting them become disputes.
Respond to a specific contractor query about design intent or buildability.
Give the contractor a clear, timely answer that doesn't stall the programme.
Joint inspection to confirm the landscape works are complete to specification.
Agree whether practical completion can be certified, and capture any outstanding items.
Inspect the completed landscape during the defects liability period.
Identify and agree remedy for any defects before the maintenance period ends.
Coordinate tree protection and arboricultural method statements with the wider design and construction team.
Ensure retained trees are genuinely protected through design and construction, not just on paper.
Align design, construction and ecological consultants on protected species and habitat requirements.
Avoid ecological delays or offences by keeping the design consistent with ecological survey findings.
Review progress of the biodiversity metric calculation and habitat strategy.
Ensure the scheme is on track to meet its BNG obligation and can evidence this to the local authority.
Coordinate SuDS design between landscape, drainage engineering and the wider team.
Resolve drainage strategy conflicts before they affect levels, planting or adoption.
Review the draft long-term management plan for the completed landscape.
Agree a management plan that is realistic, fundable and meets any planning or BNG obligations.
Regular update to the client on overall project status.
Keep the client informed and confident, and surface any issues before they escalate.
Review project costs against the approved budget.
Give the client an accurate, current view of cost position and any forecast overrun.
Discuss and agree a client-requested change to the scope or design.
Agree whether, how and at what cost a requested change will be implemented.
Review the overall project programme and any changes to key milestones.
Keep the client's expectations aligned with the realistic delivery timeline.
Review the project risk register with the client.
Ensure risks are visible, owned and being actively managed rather than just recorded.
Formally hand over the completed landscape and associated documentation to the client.
Give the client everything they need to operate and maintain the landscape from day one.
Review how the landscape maintenance regime is working in practice.
Catch maintenance issues early and adjust the regime if it isn't delivering the intended design.
Inspect the landscape at the end of the defects liability period.
Ensure all defects are identified and resolved before the contractor's liability ends.
Assess how the completed landscape is actually performing and being used.
Capture lessons learned to improve future projects and inform any adjustments to this one.
Regular internal check-in across live projects.
Keep the whole team aware of project status, workload and upcoming deadlines.
Plan staff allocation across current and upcoming projects.
Balance workload across the team and identify resourcing gaps before they bite.
Peer review of design work in an open, critical studio format.
Improve design quality through honest peer feedback before work goes to the client.
Structured learning session to build skills and keep the practice current.
Ensure the whole team maintains and develops professional competence.
Review a project's outputs against the practice's quality standards before issue.
Catch errors and inconsistencies before they reach the client or site.
Review the pipeline of prospective new work.
Keep a healthy pipeline of future projects and decide where to focus effort.
Plan marketing activity and prepare bids for specific opportunities.
Produce competitive, on-brand bids and maintain visibility in the market.
Review the practice's financial performance and project profitability.
Identify which projects and services are profitable, and where costs are running ahead of fee.
Our team can advise on meeting structure, agenda formats and communication protocols for landscape projects of any scale.
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