A conversation with our landscape architecture partner, OLA, on the importance of alignment between landscape and builder.
“Coordination and collaboration in projects is huge. Having the right team is the most important part.”
In a recent video conversation, Lou Arencibia, Founding Principal at OLA, reflects on it's partnership with Carbon and shares how the ongoing Mountain House project exemplifies what’s possible when landscape, construction and wider project teams operate as one; aligning vision, resolving complexity early, and delivering with precision.
“What most builders get wrong with landscape is seeing it as an afterthought,” Lou explains. But at Carbon, landscape strategy is embedded early. And from structural coordination to material testing, we remain deeply engaged in the conversation throughout a project’s lifecycle. “Carbon supports our vision in multiple ways,” Lou says. “They’re design-forward - not just building per plan. They’re really involved in the process and genuinely interested in the design, which makes it easy for us to collaborate.”
That involvement becomes especially important in the inevitable gap between design intent and on-site reality. “Carbon really helps to problem-solve early in the process. They’re invested not just from a building standpoint, but from a relationship standpoint. That really sets them apart.”
At Mountain House, that collaboration is visible in moments both subtle and technical. When early site visits revealed sound traveling up from the valley, OLA designed integrated water features to mitigate acoustics without compromising aesthetics. Carbon is now working alongside the team to develop mock-ups, allowing everyone to test and understand the acoustic impact before final execution.
“The collaboration is key to making sure these projects get built on time and on budget and efficiently,” Lou adds.
Mountain House continues to take shape - not as a collection of isolated disciplines, but as a fully integrated partnership built on alignment, trust, and shared expertise.
You can follow the Mountain House project’s progress [here] and explore our other partnerships [here]
Interested in building a home that performs as well as it looks? Get in touch with the Carbon team to start the conversation about your project.
