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1997 – 2005
Grounds for inspiration – Jim Sell Design team aces
the Boulder IBM facility’s landscape renovation
Boulder, Colorado – Bark-eating rabbits. Security cameras. Sprinkler systems that had long gone dry. These were just a few of the challenges facing the Jim Sell Design, Inc., team when they undertook an extensive landscape renovation of the IBM Facility in Boulder.
Providing a welcome respite for employees
This large IBM engineering campus has nearly 5,000 employees. The corporation wanted to give its grounds a facelift to enhance appearance and provide interesting and beautiful places for employees to enjoy during their breaks.
But the grounds were in poor condition. A resident population of rabbits had denuded many shrubs, the sprinkler systems needed work, and much of the existing plant material was overgrown or dying. And because IBM in Boulder is a secured facility, careful thought had to be given to plant placement and height near security cameras.
Playing “beat the clock”
“The biggest challenge was the schedule for the final design and construction of the main entry plaza,” explains Jim Sell, president and principal landscape architect for Jim Sell Design. “IBM received its funding for the second element of the implementation phase in the fourth quarter of the year, and that money had to be spent by the end of the year.” That meant designing the project and building it in just a few months. “It was a huge challenge,” says Sell.
To stay within budget, Jim’s team kept many of the existing trees on the IBM campus grounds, but they demolished huge amounts of concrete and made friends with the shrub-eating rabbits. “We changed our plant materials and selected shrubs that rabbits don’t like to eat,” laughs Sell.
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