Friday Focus on Landscape Design

Each Friday Studio W will post new and relevant information regarding Landscape Design and Architecture.  We hope you will find this useful and share with family and friends.  Please feel free to reach out to us at info@thestudiow.com or 405.285.5610.

How much value does landscaping add to the value of your home or commercial real estate?

Investing in your property, can add value to
to your home

Residential:

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) recommends that homeowners invest 10 percent of the home’s value in landscaping. Landscape architecture goes beyond plantings, or softscaping, to include structural features like lighting, fences, garden paths, fire pits, swimming pools, and ponds. Outdoor rooms, terraces, and decks are also high-yield structural or hardscaping investments. A landscape architect can work with the client to generate a detailed plan. 

Landscape design can do more then just add value to your home, just three trees in the right location can save up to $250 a year in heating and cooling costs, says the source for energy-saving stats: the U.S. Department of Energy.

Commercial:

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Plaza Design
Designed by Studio W

Commercial real estate can be a lucrative investment.  But in order to get the most out of our investment, it is vital to enhance and maintain the property to attract tenants or customers.  This will protect your long-term investment of your property.

By having well maintained landscape and mature well-groomed trees, this can improve and protect your commercial property for years to come.  

Commercial property owners can also gain respect and admiration from their community by offering water features or unique stonework or landscape designs.  Adding these features to your commercial property will not only increase its property value, it can help make your property a focal point in the community and a place families want to gather.

Studies show commercial office space with a high quality landscape design have up to 7% higher rental rates.  

Investing in your home or commercial real estate will add value, increase community involvement and yield a return on your investment for years to come.

For more information on commercial or high-end residential landscape design, contact:  Studio W at info@thestudiow.com or 405.285.5610.

Landscape Design: Hardscape or Softscape?

Are you planning a landscape project?  Do you know the difference between hardscape and softscape?

Adding hardscape and softscape elements to your project
will help add balance and harmony to your area.

Whether you are planning a residential or commercial landscape project, it is good to know what your project will include.

Hardscape is normally what landscape designers start with.  It refers to heavier elements such as patios, stones, swimming pools and can even include sprinkler systems.   

Once the hardscape or border of the project is complete, it is time to add the softscape such as trees, soil, plants and flowers.  Some elements of the softscape will be permanent like evergreens.  While others are seasonal flowers that are ever changing and add color to the project.  

No project is complete without a little of both.  That's why hiring a professional landscape design firm is important.  They can help you design your project and add balance, functionality and an elegant focal point to the area.

Even though softscape features may be more affordable, they also require more maintenance.  On the other hand, hardscape is more expensive, but it is permanent.  A professional design team will help you determine just the right amount of both to fit your need and living style.

For more information, or to schedule an appointment with one of the Studio W landscape designers, contact us at info@thestudiow.com or 405.285.5610.

Historic Oklahoma: Robbers Cave State Park

As a landscape design firm, we take pride in showing off historic places Oklahoma has to offer.  Each month in 2017 we will highlight a few places that are on the map. We hope you will follow us on this journey!

This month we would like to highlight 

Robbers Cave State Park

Hiking Trailhead at Robbers Cave State Park

Robbers Cave State Park is a state park in Latimer County, Oklahoma. It is located 5 miles north of Wilburton, Oklahoma, on State Highway 2.  

Originally named Latimer State Park, it received its current name in 1936.   The area surrounding the present-day park has been a hunting ground for hundreds of years. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest people were related to the builders of the Spiro Mounds. By the 1600s, the Osage and Caddo tribes dominated the area. French hunters and explorers also visited, leaving their mark by naming some of the prominent geographic features, which are still used.

This park is a favorite of rappellers, equestrians, hikers and outdoor lovers. The park and adjoining wildlife management area covers more than 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) and includes three lakes. It offers visitors acres of discovery and enjoyment including trout fishing in season, boating, hunting, mountain biking, trails for hikers and horses, sandstone cliffs for climbing and rappelling, and fall foliage viewing. In addition, Robbers Cave is historically notable as a former hideout for infamous outlaws Belle Starr and Jesse James.

The park encompasses three lakes: Lake Carlton, Lake Wayne Wallace and Coon Creek Lake. These were created by dams built on Fourche Maline Creek, a tributary of Poteau River. The combined surface area of the three lakes is 189 acres.

source:  travelok.com

Sunbeam Family Services Annual Shine A Light Gala

At Studio W, we feel being a great company includes giving back to the community we serve.

Studio W is excited to be a sponsor of the Sunbeam Family Services Shine A Light Gala!

On April 13, 2017  Sunbeam Family Services will host their annual Shine A Light Gala at the Oklahoma City Embassy Suites downtown Medical Center.  All funds raised will directly support Sunbeam’s programs that help children, families and seniors. The gala is planned entirely by a volunteer committee with OKC Thunder’s Russell Westbrook serving as Honorary Event Chair. 

Sunbeam Family Services seeks to meet the growing needs of Central Oklahoma’s most vulnerable citizens, providing help, hope and the opportunity to succeed to people of all ages. We offer real solutions, aiming to strengthen individuals, families, and communities through a continuum of programs: early childhood, foster care, counseling and senior services. We believe that if we provide high-quality services in these areas, we build stronger, brighter futures for Oklahomans.

Together we will celebrate the accomplishments of the past and the vision for the future of Sunbeam Family Services while shining a light on our Early Childhood Services program. 

Historic Oklahoma: Oklahoma City National Memorial

As a landscape design firm, we take pride in showing off historic places Oklahoma has to offer.  Each month in 2017 we will highlight a few places that are on the map. We hope you will follow us on this journey!

This month we would like to highlight 

The Oklahoma City National Memorial

The Oklahoma City National Memorial
photo courtesy:  Adventure Road

The outdoor symbolic memorial is a place of quiet reflection, honoring victims, survivors, rescuers and all who were changed forever on April 19, 1995. It encompasses the now sacred soil where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building once stood, capturing and preserving forever the place and events that changed the world.

This month on April 19th we will remember and honor the 168 people who lost their life and those whose lives were forever changed by the events that took place April 19, 1995.  Oklahoma City will also host the 17th annual OKC Memorial Marathon on April 30, 2017...A Run to Remember. 

Through the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, the world will never forget the 168 victims who died in the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

The Memorial is comprised of two separate components, each of which pays tribute to the victims of the tragedy in a distinctive way. The 3.3-acre Outdoor Symbolic Memorial includes such features as the Gates of Time, which mark the time before and after the bombing took place, and the Field of Empty Chairs, which memorializes each of the victims. The Survivor Tree, a resilient symbol of the attack, is an American Elm that withstood the full force of the bomb's blast on that fateful day.

Inside the 50,000-square-foot Memorial Museum, interactive exhibits offer a contrast between the immense brutality of the senseless act of violence and the tenderness of the city's response. This chronological, self-guided tour takes you through the story of April 19, 1995, and the days, weeks and years that followed.

For more information on commercial landscape design or high-end residential outdoor living and design, contact:  Studio W, info@thestudiow.com or 405.285.5610

Source:  adventureroad.com

Our Team: Meet Kerry Willmon, Office Manager/Executive Assistant

At Studio W, our company values, integrity and knowledge are never more apparent than when you meet our employees. Studio W feels fortunate to have such wonderful people on our team! 

Kerry Willmon
Studio W, Office Manager
Executive Assistant

I started working for Studio W, in August 2016, as the Office Manager/Executive Assistant to the president, Jason Wilke.  

My job is ever changing - which is what makes it fun and exciting.  Our business changes and grows on a daily basis, so my daily responsibilities are very fluid.  Whether we are working on a major commercial project like the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, or a high-end residential project, my job is to make sure everything runs smoothly and is coordinated internally.  I am also responsible for daily operations such as; bookkeeping, payroll, taxes, budgets and forecasts as well as all aspects of managing the office.

In the fall of 2015 I made the decision to close my home based business that allowed me to be at home with my own children for several years.  Getting back into the corporate world did have some challenges and new learning curves but that is what helps make us grow into better employee’s! 

I have been married to my husband Travis for almost 21 years and have two beautiful children- our daughter Baile is a Freshman in High School and our son Rok is in Pre-K. I enjoy watching OU Football and OU Basketball, sewing, cooking/baking, but mostly being with family and friends.

I am very grateful that I was given this wonderful opportunity.  Studio W is not just a place of employment; we are a family! 

Commercial Landscape and Design - Studio W

Commercial Landscape Design is more then just pretty plants and flowers.

The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Project incorporated soil
from all 77 Oklahoma Counties. as well as native plants

There are many benefits to a well designed commercial landscape space.  But it first starts with choosing the right company to design your space.

Look for a company who communicates with you and can take your ideas and create a space that is not only functional, but it will add to the value of your property.  You also want to be sure they can create a space that is not only attractive, but pleasant and inviting for your clients and employees.  They should be proactive and transparent in everything they do.

A well designed area can actually attract potential customers and employees.  It says a lot about your company - like curb-appeal for a home.  It's the difference between a bad first impression by allowing your company to be run down, or a great first impression by maintaining a nicely landscaped area that is pleasing and welcoming.

A well landscaped design can also be eco-friendly and promote productivity for your employees.  By creating an area that employees can enjoy on breaks or during lunch keeps your employees nearby and lets them know you care about the environment they work in.

At night, the Farm Bureau pillars, created by Studio W are
spotlighted by warm LED up lights.

You can use your landscaping to reflect your values in the community where you live.  Whether that is native plants, or soil from the counties you serve, as seen in the Oklahoma Farm Bureau project pictured.  Your customers will know you care about the environment and the community you serve.  

For more information on Landscape Design, contact:  The Studio W at info@thestudiow.com or 405.285.5610