On a multi-family project you start with the site as it is. You walk it with an arborist, read the tree inventory, and work out which trees your municipality's tree protection bylaw lets you remove and which you must keep. You map grades, drainage and sun. Then you sit down with the architect, because the building footprint, parkade ramp and underground structure decide where soil can be deep enough for a real tree.
Through concept and the development permit, you design the public edge, entries, amenity spaces, rooftops and stormwater approach, such as rain gardens and absorbent soils. You produce a landscape plan, a planting schedule with sizes at installation, a grading plan and hardscape details. Many BC municipalities hold a landscape security as a permit condition, released once the work is installed and, in some places, after a maintenance period. Terms vary, so check with your municipality.
During construction you review the work on site, sign off at substantial completion and carry the planting through its maintenance period. All along, renderings are showing your landscape to staff, council and buyers. Whether those images show your plan, or a generic lawn with full-grown trees, depends on how early you are brought in.
The fix is simple and rarely done: treat the renderer as another consultant who needs your set. When your planting schedule, grades and tree retention plan are in the model from the first round, the landscape stops being decoration and becomes evidence. That matters to staff reviewing a permit, and it matters to buyers deciding whether a courtyard is somewhere they would sit.
Renderings show a mature canopy on opening day. Staff discount the view, and buyers feel misled when they move in beside saplings.
We agree the tree age shown in each view with you, and note it on the record.
Your schedule calls for native grasses and multi-stem trees; the render shows clipped shrubs and lawn.
Send the planting schedule and we match plant character, size and spacing to it, then you check it on the image.
The views are framed to hide the parkade ramp and the rain garden you fought for.
Invite yourself in at the camera stage. Plain-model views are shared first, when moving a camera is cheap.
More →Retaining walls and stairs change height in the render because the renderer guessed.
The model is built from your grading plan and the architect's drawings, not from a guess.
Deciduous trees in full leaf in a winter marketing campaign.
Seasonal sets are made from the approved scene. AI changes light, season and planting character, never the building.
More →Two PDFs of notes land on the renderer's desk and one of them wins by accident.
In StudioLink (live) both of you comment on the same image, in the same thread.
Rooftop gardens and courtyards are a selling point, but only the front elevation gets rendered.
We tell the developer which views show the landscape best when we scope the job.
You drop a tree for a utility conflict, but the marketing view still shows it.
Revisions are added as dated versions, so it is clear which views still need updating.
Your planting and hardscape to finish the ground plane, and early notice of soil depth needs over structure.
Current building edges, parkade limits, grades at the doors.
Both of you mark up the same image. See for architects.
Where stormwater goes on site and what your planting areas can absorb.
Finished grades and servicing routes that do not cut through root zones.
One dated set means grades in the render match the grades you both signed.
Where construction will come near retained trees.
Root protection zones and the retention list.
Retained trees are modelled where they stand, so views show what stays.
A landscape that sells and fits the budget.
A decision on scope before planting is priced.
Approvals are dated on the record.
How lobbies and amenity rooms meet the outdoor spaces.
Their palette at the threshold. See for interior designers.
Indoor and outdoor views are reviewed side by side.
A plan they can hold security against, and honest views.
Their comments tied to one submission round.
CityLink keeps each round and what changed. See for municipalities.
Images that show outdoor living at its best, in every season.
Your design shown as designed, not replaced with stock planting.
They use only the approved set, including approved seasonal versions. See marketing and sales.
The developer or architect usually orders the work. Ask them to invite you as a guest; guest dashboards are free.
Landscape plan, planting schedule with sizes, grading plan, hardscape materials, site furniture and lighting if it is designed.
At installation, a few years on, or at maturity. It is stated in the review notes so nobody is surprised. For council views, a stated age a few years after planting is a fair middle ground.
Check grades, walls, stairs and planting areas before materials go on.
Pin comments on plants, paving and edges. The architect sees them in the same thread.
Once approved, seasonal and time-of-day versions come from the same scene.
They design everything outside the building walls: the public edge, entries, amenity spaces, rooftops, planting, grading and often the stormwater approach. They also coordinate tree retention with an arborist and review the installed work on site.
Either can be right, but the view should say which. A council view that shows mature canopy hides the building's real impact in the first years. Many teams show a few years after planting and state it.
Many municipalities ask for security as a condition of a development permit, to make sure the landscaping is installed. It is usually released after inspection and, in some places, after a maintenance period. How it is calculated and held varies, so check with your municipality.
Typically a landscape plan, planting schedule, grading, hardscape, tree retention and removal backed by an arborist report, and often stormwater features. Your municipality's development permit guidelines list what it expects.
AI can vary season, light and planting character around an approved scene. For views that show your design, the planting is checked against your plan before release, and the building itself is never changed.
Yes. Both of you comment on the same image in StudioLink, and the renderer answers in the same thread.
Usually the developer, as part of the project's visuals. You are invited to review so the landscape is shown as you designed it.
Since the province's 2023 housing legislation, many residential rezonings in BC that are consistent with the Official Community Plan no longer hold a public hearing. Exceptions and local procedures vary, so check with your municipality. Staff and council still review the landscape plan, and the permit conditions still apply.
Planting takes more modelling and rendering time than hard surfaces, especially dense or layered beds. The number of views, the season sets and how settled your plan is drive the time more than anything. Your scope gives the date before we start.
