It is common for design graduates to enter the design workforce without ever having built anything themselves. Construction details are abstract layers confined to the 2-dimensional plane of drawing software, rather than tactile elements which materialize a project. It is precisely this gap between theory and practice which is often considered the titular blind spot of a typical design education. This summer, SALA offered a project geared towards landscape architecture students to be built for Keats Camps on Keats Island, accompanying a decade-long tenure of projects built throughout British Columbia in previous Design-Build courses. The project spanned two semesters; four months allotted to iterating design options and their associated logistics, followed by an intense 6-week construction period.
Such an undertaking presents unique challenges to students and professors alike. Nicky Bloom is an adjunct professor with a strong background and interest in the hands-on facets of landscape architecture. She led the students through the design phase of this project in the winter 2025 semester. Construction was co-led by adjunct professor Lys Hermanski, who has participated in and helped lead SALA Design-Build projects for a decade, Nicky, and architecture faculty member James Huemoeller. Thea Johannus and Ema di Fruscia are both entering their final year in the Master of Landscape Architecture program and participated in this year’s build. We asked Ema, Thea, and Nicky to reflect on their Design-Build experience, and share what they learned on Keats Island.
Why do you feel it is valuable to do a design-build?
Nicky: It is unique in school and in practice to be fully responsible for the design and construction of a project. In practice, the division between designers and contractors or builders often means that designers don’t have the tactile, material understanding of what it means to construct our projects.
In a design-build, students get to present their ideas clearly to a real client, receiving immediate feedback, adjusting based on input, and refining based on real material availability, sourcing timelines, budget, and transportation logistics. None of those aspects are part of a typical studio, but all are relevant in practice. Design-Build is a good first exposure to those skills.
Prior to this, most students’ design experience would have been limited to studio settings. Was it difficult to manage expectations and ambitions in terms of feasible ideas? What was it like, working with a real client?
Nicky: The design phase definitely involved finding the balance between big ideas and the realities of time and budget. The students understood that right away, and came up with designs that impacted the entire campus core (nearly 20 acres) with interventions like Douglas fir and cedar benches custom-milled by us, large shade structures, berm-encircled seating areas, and a big hillside no-mow meadow.
As instructors we helped the students think through things they might not typically consider, like underground concrete footings and drain rock, material weathering, or the impact of 200 kids using these spaces at once.
Thea: While not typical to studio, these constraints did help narrow down our designs quickly, giving us more time to think about buildability and construction.
Ema: The client also knew the site and context extremely well, much better than we did. They had some very important insights about safety. Some of our early designs were over-the-top cool, but didn’t take into account the ways in which they could be used (or more importantly, misused) by kids.
Thea: Getting direct feedback from the Keats Team about their desires, excitement, even concerns shaped our design approach differently. It’s rare to build connections and trust with the people and places we design for within the studio setting. The “buildability” of the project was as much about it being structural and beautiful as it was about showing that we were considerate designers, listening and applying the feedback and desires of the Keats team.
The “buildability” of the project was as much about it being structural and beautiful as it was about showing that we were considerate designers, listening and applying the feedback and desires of the Keats team.
What did the design phase, and preparation for construction look like?
Thea: We first worked collectively toward site analysis and design ideation. Once our design was narrowed down, we broke off into teams: Earthwork, Planting, Deck, Shade, and Furniture. In these teams, we developed the project, considering material, cost, and construction. Heading into the build phase, we took on roles of budgeting, tool preparation, CAD organization, scheduling, and social media and documentation.
I worked on Team Shade and Team Scheduling. The design of the shade in our project was a good lesson in being adaptable to changes. The sun patterns and on-site input from the Keats Team guided our changes. One of the sails in our final design was an addition made based on staff’s input of daily camper activity. It is now one of the more utilized shade spots on the campus!
I think the biggest learning curve was anticipating how much time each task in the construction phase was going to take and how detailed to make the schedule knowing the timeline and daily tasks would shift. Working as a team to be flexible, and staying patient with one another, helped us stay on track.
What did a typical day on the building site look like?
Thea: Our days always started with a hearty and love-filled breakfast prepared by the Keats cooking team. They got us through our biggest physical days and never let us go hungry. Following breakfast, we’d hold a daily team meeting, sharing what work had been accomplished the day before and key tasks for the day ahead. After a solid morning of work, we’d eat team lunch and share a progress update.
Most days, we wrapped up by 5 p.m., which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful island – we would watch sunsets by the dock, go for a run to Salmon Rock, or hang out in the Pilot House for a team movie or card game night.
What about this experience surprised you?
Nicky: The students surprised me with how committed they were to figuring things out and doing research to make their designs buildable. For example, the team working on the complex, multi-tiered deck had to learn more about span tables, structural integrity, and connections than had been covered in any class. They worked through it, and ended up designing two beautiful decks that will be a central part of the camp.
The planting team also went above and beyond, talking to horticulturalists and nurseries, coordinating barge logistics to get 1000 plants and 10 trees to the island, doing field layout, planting, watering, and writing a maintenance plan to hand off to the client.
Every design team took real ownership over their part of the project.
Ema: It surprised me how quickly I grew comfortable doing new things. I had barely ever used power tools, I was afraid of saws, and I had never worked a manual job. I had concerns about my capabilities. Luckily, we had amazing instructors and a very supportive team. The unfamiliar quickly felt safe. I left with a new set of skills, and a new confidence in my ability to work with my hands, find solutions to challenges, and tackle new experiences.
I learned that the best solution is almost always the simplest one. Practical lessons too, like using consistent/common angles, reconfiguring forms to maximize materials, and adjusting dimensions to account for the real sizes of decking boards, for example, could make a very small impact on the overall design, but significantly ease the feasibility of construction.
What was most fulfilling?
Nicky: This particular Design-Build included mostly women and non-binary people, and because that is still so rare in the construction trades, it was empowering to construct an entire project with this group. In addition to the very real skills students gained — using power tools, doing site layout, measuring, planning, building — the chance to live on a beautiful island together, work and eat together, was unique.
The students worked so well as a team. Lys and I got to see students with almost no construction experience evolve to leading their work teams to complete aspects of the project at a high level. It was really cool to see.
Ema: Learning, growing, and getting stronger every day was super fulfilling. Seeing the clients using the spaces we had built for them was a major highlight. Living on Keats Island, where we could hike, swim, and see seals, bald eagles, and ravens every day was magical. Obviously, the best part was the relationships that we built. Through working, exploring, and living together, we built deep and meaningful friendships that I’m very grateful for.
Thea: This experience emphasized the effectiveness of hands-on learning, specifically understanding the physical labour involved in building a project. The Design-Build program can be fundamental to our design education and careers. It creates a safe space for students to make and learn from mistakes while being supported by mentors. It’s a unique opportunity to build relationships with peers and potential future colleagues, which has lasting effects on our industry’s community at large. I am excited to see landscape architecture students have this opportunity to uplift their education, and the community partnerships that come from it!
SALA is currently developing an alternative to the solo capstone graduate project undertaken by students in their final year at the school. Rather than a self-led project, landscape architecture and architecture students alike will be able to opt into a year-long Design-Build process, with the support of industry leaders. Nicky noted that a key logistical challenge of this course is its short duration. This course series was a positive experience charged with learning. As the program grows and evolves, Nicky hopes the design phase of future Design-Build projects can be the students’ main studio, the focus of their creative energy to deepen design development.
Allotting more time and resource to a Design-Build initiative will mean that students can push the limits in realms of material science, engagement with both local and remote BC communities, and push project complexity, creating even more designers that can not only imagine something great, but make it real.
