Best Practices

The design of viewpoints, roads, and buildings shape what visitors see and how they experience it. Simple design choices, like using natural materials and darker colors, can help structures blend seamlessly into the landscape. The best practices below highlight some of these visual considerations that help parks improve development and enhance the visitor experience. They can be integrated into the overall design and planning process for all types of park projects. Many best practices are also useful for improving projects that could affect park views.

 

Site Right

Choosing a location is most important for fitting new development into a landscape. A poorly sited building or other feature can be distracting even with good design. The right location can help protect the visual experience. “Site Right” practices are ideas for placing structures, so they are less visible. Using natural terrain and existing vegetation are efficient and cost-effective ways to help projects blend into the landscape.

 

View Smarts

Viewpoint design determines what visitors see and how they see it. Viewpoints can be developed or managed in many ways. “View Smarts” practices describe how to plan for different viewing experiences. Shaping the way people experience a view—such as managing nearby vegetation or thoughtfully designing a viewpoint—can enhance visitor enjoyment while helping to protect park resources.

 

Design Wise

Designing features to fit in means complementing the existing landscape. This includes elements such as forms, lines, colors, and scale. Built features that don’t fit into the landscape can draw attention to themselves and be distracting. “Design Wise” practices are design recommendations that best fit the existing landscape. They build on the view’s intrinsic visual balance created by line, proportion, scale, and form.

 

Working with Plants

Plants are often a major part of projects. This might look like salvaging native plants, using them in landscape restoration, or placing them for screening. Plants can help protect the local ecosystem and enhance scenic quality. They are also important in historic and cultural landscapes. Recommended practices include planting in groups to mimic natural occurrence and matching new plants to native vegetation. Also, using native plants as accents—to highlight focal points and shape the space—increases attractiveness and park ecosystem health.

 

Surface Smarts

Appropriate colors and textures can help new development blend in with existing features. Being “Surface Smart” is the next step after selecting the right site and a good design. Low-reflective materials help reduce glare from sunlight. Textured materials help the features blend in with natural landscapes. Color is one of the most important decisions. Colors that blend with the surrounding landscape can help a project fit in. Dark colors recede while light colors are usually more noticeable. Consider seasonal variation in the surrounding landscape when choosing colors. Sometimes the simplest solutions—like applying a fresh coat of paint—can quickly improve the appearance and function of a surface.

 

Signs and Lighting

Signs are an important part of communication with visitors. Lighting is also needed for visitor safety and facility security. However, these components often are added over time without a clear understanding of the gradual change. Signs can easily become overwhelming in both numbers and complex messages. Lighting diminishes the visitor experience and impacts wildlife. Signs and lighting best practices provide basic recommendations and ideas to improve these components.

 

To learn more, download these Visual Quality Best Practices documents.