oct-2017

68 69 THEVENOT: “My background is with landscape architecture. I studied at Kansas State University, and when we formed AquaTerra, just over ten years ago, our focus was a single source, outdoor solu- tion for our clients. Unfortunately, in our region, the focus has been somewhat segmented into a pool contractor, a landscape contractor, maybe somebody who does outdoor kitchens.And at that time, there weren’t many of us focusing on an encompassing design/build/man- agement solution. “We currently have six professional designers, and we are a full construction company.We build swimming pools, landscaping, irri- gation, drainage, cabanas, verandas, arbors; and we have a manage- ment solution, too.Our management is broken into two departments: TerraCare is our landscape maintenance, and AquaCare is our pool service. Since we were creating these environments for our clients, we wanted to maintain them as well. So many times, over the years, I’ve created beautiful, one-of-a-kind landscapes and then had to hand them off to maintenance companies that weren’t able to main- AQUATERRA OUTDOORS WHAT: Award-winning firm that designs builds and manages cus- tom outdoor environments WHERE: Plano, Texas WEBSITE: www.aquaterra outdoors.com AT A GLANCE AQUATERRA OUTDOORS tain themwith the level of excellence with which they were built. “We’re continuing to build our teamwith employ- ees that share the same passion I have for creativ- ity, quality and service.We use those three words internally all the time, and we’re constantly judging and ranking ourselves based on howwe’re doing in those areas,where we can improve, and howwe’re going to improve. “We have 29 employees, including three principle designers / project managers.We work closely with the client,which allows us to stay engaged during construction and beyond. In this way,we can en- sure the property is being properlymaintained and, therefore, continues to be a spectacular environ- ment within which the homeowners can live, relax, and play.” BVM: What territory do you cover? Thevenot: “We design internationally, but most of our design work is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Currently,we offer the full compliment of design, build, and management only inDallas-FortWorth.We have travelled for constructionwork in the past,but our market is nowsaturatedwithwork,so there’s no need to travel.We design as far awayas SouthAfrica, Australia and the Caribbean,as well as throughout the U.S.,such as North Carolina and Colorado,but that’s a very small percentage of our work. “We only activelymarket within Dallas-Fort Worth, however,with Houzz being such a great resource for homeowners today, that’s where a good percentage of our work outside Texas has come from. Addi- tionally,word of mouth referrals and clients that have properties in other states have expanded our