Strategies Leading to Perpetual Abundance
I am glad that you are interested in getting a design consultation for your property.
Take a look at the options below for depth of design you are looking for and we can go from there.
To get started it is helpful if I know a little bit more about your vision, goals and resources so that I can better help you attain them.
I have put together a PDF Design Questionnaire for you and the people you are involved with to fill out. You can get it back to me at your convenience. You can copy and paste into an email or print and fill it out by hand, scan it and attach it to an email.
I will review your filled out questionnaire and pull up a Google earth image of your site before I come out for the site visit. We can then set up a time to visit your place or talk on the phone for a more in depth consultation on your needs and the possibilities for your location.
Depending on the extent of the detail in a design I could limit work to a single-day, walk-and-talk encounter, and / or develop written and graphic map and supporting materials to document a main frame design for your property.
My studio rates are $95/ hr. for maps, drawings, reports, phone consultation 360-319-2029 , and related office work.
Thank you for your interest in developing your property so that it is a regenerative abundant system. I look forward to helping you in any way that I can. Brian Kerkvliet
Residential Designs
For single family properties we have put together few simple packages to meet your needs.
- Phone / Zoom Consultations
- 2 hour site visit walk and talk
- Site visit plus a drawn up map of site visit observations.
- Full site evaluation and site design and implementation plan.
- Mainframe installations of earthworks and plantings.
Main Frame Design
An overall main frame design is essential for getting projects off in the right direction and will give a good basis for a phased plan for implementation over time. A good design identifies and illustrates unique aspects of any project. Looking at water, soil, food, energy, waste and infrastructure systems.
The Design Process
The general outline of creating a master plan for a site and its systems is laid out below. The design process is tailored to meet the needs of each unique project and the client:
- Client Questionnaire The client is asked to complete a basic questionnaire on the scope of the project. This helps define the overview and generate design parameter covering goals, vision, resources and timeline.
- Phone Interview After reviewing the questionnaire a brief phone interview is helpful to fine tune the design strategy.
- Site Assessment We then set a time for me to visit the site. We will walk the landscape together while I make observations and gather information from you and the context of the project. During this visit I will draw rough ideas, features and locations on an arial base map. These notes will be used for site assessment overlays, a summary of site constraints and opportunities, and draft a vision for the overall project.
Conceptual Design This is a process that involves working with the client to evaluate a range of ideas, and configurations. Various aspects of the project are addressed with overall general detail.- Implementation Planning & Starting Points The master plan can be a lot to digest, especially for complex sites and/or visions. An implementation plan helps clients focus on potential starting points and establish a phased development plan.
- Design Development Aspects of the design will require further details. Plant list, Energy systems, Gray-water systems, etc. Clients can do some of this on their own. I can help with aspects or recommend a specialist in that field to further develop specific details of the project.
Design Review Services
Designed to help you stay on track with your master plan.
Providing Feedback to help refine your design. Do you have a design that was put together by yourself or a friend and you would like another opinion? We are happy to give it a review and provide feedback. We look at a variety parameters including food production, water and energy systems, structures, and community.
Property Search
Are you looking to select a piece of land? Would you like some feedback based on your goals for the properties you are considering? Experience in reading landscapes and recognizing opportunities and constraints are important to avoid pitfalls and unnecessary expenses. I can accompany you while touring prospective properties and helping you assess them for; passive solar potential, food production, soils, water, microclimates, existing resources, and suitability for your vision.
Brian has a wide breadth of practical knowledge on how to partner with natural systems to bring forth stability and abundance. Brian and his wife Alexandra have been co-stewarding Inspiration Farm in Bellingham Wa, since 1994. They use both biodynamic and Permaculture practices the farm. Brian has taught permaculture courses at WWU and other PDC venues and events since 2009. Having completed several diverse Permaculture Design Certifications. He now runs a nursery, consults, installs projects and teaches workshops. Although Brian has a wide range of skill sets his passion is designing water resilient landscapes by building soil and appropriate scale earthworks to support plant and animal diversity. His enthusiasm to share this with a wider audience shows in all that he does.
Inspiration Farm is a showcase for many aspects of designing a living resilient system that provides for most of the food, fiber and medicine needed to live a happy healthy life while restoring the ecosystem at the same time.