Case Study: Holcombe Norton Partners, Inc. achieves sustainable, data-driven site design with VectorWorks

Intelligent Design Practices Meet Smart Site Objects

Holcombe Norton Partners, a full‑service landscape architecture firm in Birmingham, faced a complex brief for Auburn University Montgomery’s Student Wellness Center: create a prominent, community‑facing site that sat below a nearby highway while satisfying client program needs, local landscape ordinances and LEED/SITES goals — all without losing a heritage red oak with an 85‑foot canopy.

The team used Vectorworks Landmark smart objects, a parametric digital terrain model (DTM) and data‑harvesting worksheets to test grading, cut‑and‑fill, costs, planting and water budgets in real time. The resulting grading plan built up the site using a borrow area (converted to intramural fields), preserved the oak, incorporated a 5,000‑sq‑ft reflecting pool and bioswales, cut irrigation water use by half, reduced heat‑island impacts across nine hardscape types, sped up coordination, and put the project on track for LEED Silver.

Holcombe Norton Partners, Inc.

Stephen Schrader

Associate Landscape Architect