Landscape Architect Chicago

Land planning Chicago scope involves developing site plans, open space configurations, parkway tree placement, buffer yard layouts, stormwater BMP siting, and streetscape frameworks that satisfy the Chicago Zoning Ordinance and Chicago Landscape Ordinance requirements. It must also address MWRD WMO stormwater compliance and urban site constraints — all coordinated with your civil engineer from the initial layout stage. Our land planning Chicago services are performed in-house with no subcontracting of scope.

Yes. We design green infrastructure and stormwater management elements — including bioswales, permeable paving, and detention basins — that comply with the MWRD Watershed Management Ordinance. These deliverables are coordinated directly with your civil engineer of record as standard scope on all Cook County projects.

Yes. Seamless consultant coordination is central to how we work. We integrate with your full project team, coordinate our drawing packages with your civil and architectural drawings, and maintain direct communication throughout the design and entitlement process.

Yes. Evergreen Design Group provides land planning, landscape architecture, and irrigation design — all in-house under one contract. This single-source model reduces your coordination burden and produces a coordinated permit submittal package your project team can work with directly.

We work on mixed-use, multi-family, commercial, industrial, and master-planned community projects throughout Chicago and the Chicagoland suburbs. All work is B2B — performed for developers, architects, civil engineers, and design-build contractors.

Yes — that is one of our most common engagement structures in this market. We integrate into your project team and deliver the full landscape architecture scope as a subconsultant, coordinating directly with your project manager and other disciplines throughout the design and entitlement process.

As early as possible — ideally at the site planning stage, before the civil plan set is substantially developed. Early engagement allows MWRD stormwater BMP siting, Chicago Landscape Ordinance compliance, tree preservation zones, and urban site constraints to be integrated into the site layout before those decisions are locked in. Projects that bring landscape architecture into the land planning Chicago process early consistently produce cleaner submittals and fewer revision cycles.

Green infrastructure for MWRD WMO compliance — bioswales, rain gardens, permeable paving, and detention areas — can add scope to the landscape design but often replaces equivalent cost in traditional detention engineering. The design cost tradeoff depends on site area, impervious coverage, and the civil engineer’s grading approach. We evaluate this in coordination with your civil engineer at the land planning stage, before either discipline’s scope is locked in.

Yes. Evergreen Design Group provides landscape architecture and irrigation design under a single contract and single project team. This single-source model is particularly efficient for Chicago projects because irrigation scope — frost-depth design, winterization specifications, MWRD-compliant water management — is fully coordinated with the planting design and hardscape without handoffs between separate firms.

Turnaround time depends on project scope, complexity, and the stage at which we are engaged. For a standard Chicago commercial or multi-family submittal package — land planning, planting plan, and tree disposition plan — our typical turnaround from signed contract and complete civil base plan is 3–5 weeks for a first submission. Irrigation design and hardscape design add scope and may extend this by 1–2 weeks depending on site complexity. Projects requiring field tree surveys add 1–2 weeks depending on site access. MWRD WMO green infrastructure scope is coordinated concurrent with civil design when we are engaged at the land planning stage. We communicate milestone schedules at project kickoff and track against your civil and permitting timeline throughout.

Yes. Chicago’s Landscape Ordinance requires parkway trees, interior parking lot landscaping, and street-level screening on compliant commercial and multi-family developments. Our plans specify species from the City of Chicago’s approved street tree list, account for utility conflicts with CDOT and ComEd clearance requirements, and meet canopy coverage requirements for the applicable zoning district. Parkway and streetscape design is standard scope on all Chicago land plans we produce.

Chicago’s Landscape Ordinance requires parkway trees on commercial and multi-family developments, with species selected from the City of Chicago’s approved street tree list. Our plans account for CDOT and ComEd utility clearance requirements, soil volume and structural soil specifications for urban tree pits, and the canopy coverage thresholds applicable to the project’s zoning district. Parkway and streetscape tree design is standard scope on all Chicago land plans we produce and is coordinated with the civil grading plan from the initial layout stage.

The Chicago Zoning Ordinance establishes land use and development standards that include open space ratios, buffer yard requirements, and parking lot screening standards that vary by zoning district. The Chicago Landscape Ordinance is a separate regulatory document that governs specific landscaping elements — parkway trees, interior parking lot planting, and streetscape standards — applicable to commercial and multi-family developments citywide. Both documents apply simultaneously on most commercial development projects in Chicago, and our landscape plans are prepared to satisfy both sets of requirements from the initial design stage.