Exceptional outdoor spaces aren't discovered during construction—they're designed long before it starts. We translate your ideas into a precise, complete vision so every decision is made with confidence and clarity.
Before construction begins
Most projects are decided with a rough sketch and a handshake. Ours start with a complete, reviewed, and refined vision—so every material, every planting, every line is resolved on paper before a single dollar goes into the ground.
Plan View — Dimensions, grades & material callouts
The 2D site plan is the foundation. It maps your entire property—hardscape, planting zones, drainage, lighting, and circulation—with precise dimensions and material callouts. Nothing is left to interpretation.
A planting plan tells you what goes where. A landscape design tells you why—and how every layer of the property connects to the next.
Circulation. Focal points. Outdoor living zones. Privacy. These decisions define how the space actually feels to live in—long before a single material is selected or a plant is chosen.
Materials age well or they don't. Planting strategies pay off in year three or fail in year one. Lighting and drainage either work together or become an expensive afterthought. A complete design resolves all of it—at the beginning, not the end.
When everything is designed together, everything works together.
No two households use their outdoor space the same way. One family needs a yard that handles three kids, a dog, and a fire pit. Another wants a serene retreat where Friday evenings feel like a resort. A third is thinking about resale value and wants the property to look exceptional without requiring constant upkeep.
Before any design work begins, we spend time understanding your life—how you entertain, how much maintenance you want, whether you’re in this house for five years or forever. We ask about morning routines, guest habits, your relationship with plants, and what you’d change about your yard tomorrow if you could.
A great outdoor space doesn’t look like everyone else’s—because it wasn’t designed for everyone else.
That context shapes every decision: where the patio goes, how the planting is scaled, which materials survive your lifestyle without constant attention. Design that starts with listening delivers spaces that feel inevitable—like they couldn’t have been any other way.
A patio in the wrong place, a pergola blocking the view, grades that weren’t accounted for—these aren’t contractor mistakes. They’re design mistakes. And by the time construction reveals them, you’re either living with the consequence or paying to undo what you already paid to build.
Four collaborative phases. One finished design that’s entirely yours.
A focused conversation about your property, your goals, and your timeline. We learn what you’re trying to accomplish and whether we’re the right fit. No pressure, no pitch—just an honest starting point.
This is where the engagement formally begins—marked by a design fee that reflects the work ahead. We come to you, walk the full property, and study grade, light, sightlines, and existing conditions alongside you. This conversation becomes the foundation of the design.
We develop the full site plan and 3D renderings, then present them to you in a dedicated review meeting. Revisions are part of the process—we refine until the design reflects exactly what you want to build and what you want to spend.
You receive a complete construction-ready package: dimensioned site plan, planting schedule, material specifications, and 3D renderings. Your project is ready to build.
It depends entirely on the scope. Smaller, more defined projects can be turned around the same week. Larger or more complex properties can take two weeks or more. We’ll give you a realistic timeline before we start—not an optimistic one.
The design fee covers the on-site consultation, the full 2D site plan, 3D photorealistic renderings, and the revision rounds needed to finalize the design. There are no hourly charges and no surprise invoices. The fee is agreed upfront.
Two rounds of revisions are included. In practice, most projects reach a final design within those two rounds. If additional changes are needed beyond that, we’ll discuss what that looks like before proceeding.
The drawings and renderings remain the intellectual property of Fairfield Innovations and may not be used by other contractors or third parties. They are created to guide your project through our build process.
Absolutely—and for most properties in Austin, phasing is the smarter approach. We design the full property from the start so that each phase builds on the last without locking you into decisions that constrain what comes next.
Yes. We are a full-service design-build firm. Most clients who complete a design with us move directly into construction. The design fee is credited toward your build contract—it isn’t an additional cost, it’s the beginning of the project.
Ready to see what your property could become?
