BY PETER DUFRENE

Despite recent extreme weather changes in Central Texas, water conservation remains a long-term concern for homeowners and utility companies alike. To address this issue, I recently joined forces with a team led by Hank Smith of Texas Engineering Solutions and including Mike Fishbaugh of Coleman & Associates to create a set of landscape guidelines for residential developments.  Working in partnership with the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin (HBA), the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), and the City of Austin, the group’s goal is to arm developers, homebuilders, and homeowners with the information and tools they need to make sensible decisions about residential landscapes.

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The largest retail store in the state is now open for business in The Colony, Texas. Nebraska Furniture Mart, which boasts a 560,000 s.f. showroom and 1.3 million s.f. distribution center, celebrated its Grand Opening on May 7th. The store will be the anchor of the 433-acre development, Grandscape, which is planned to include three mixed-use villages on a pedestrian spine, with specialty shops, restaurants, hotels, theater, office, pocket parks and a large entertainment amphitheater.  RVi is providing urban design and landscape architecture services for the entire Grandscape Development.

Nebraska Furniture Mart is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.  Mr. Buffett was in attendance for the store’s Opening Gala on April 8th, where he entertained the crowd by auctioning a large white Stetson Cowboy hat.  He also took open questions from the audience regarding his personal feelings about family, the importance of contributing to society, business success strategies, and even a few humorous predictions for the 2016 Presidential Election.

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Landscape Architects from across the state gathered in Galveston earlier this month for the annual ASLA Conference.  Among this year’s presenters was RVi’s CEO and Founding Principal, Bob Richardson.  Bob teamed up with fellow industry leaders Aan Coleman of Coleman & Associates and Earl Broussard of TBG Partners.  Together, this group of colleagues discussed the evolution of the Landscape Architecture profession over the past four decades.  Bob emphasized how the scope of the profession has expanded in remarkable ways – so that landscape architects are now brought in as valued collaborators in the early stages of a project, and can have a significant positive influence on the use and the design of the land.

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