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As the building boom continues in Oregon, landscape architects are among those reaping the benefits.

The windfall isn’t without challenges though, especially for landscape architecture firms looking to bring top talent on board to help with the load of work coming through their doors.

For many landscape architecture firms, one of the richest project veins right now is the educational sector. Higher education projects held steady during the recession, as community colleges and universities expanded and upgraded facilities to meet a flow of newly enrolled students seeking career training after losing jobs.

In Eugene, for example, Lane Community College gained voters’ support to tackle academic and athletic projects as well as some general campus improvements. For Eugene-based Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture & Planning (CMLA), that work helped it keep busy during the recession while other firms were forced to lay off staff, CMLA principal landscape architect Matt Scheibe said.

But K-12 projects dried up during the economic slowdown. Some school districts found it difficult to drum up voters’ support for school construction bonds during that time. Other districts simply chose not to pursue money for projects, preferring to wait until after the economy had improved.

鈥淭here was a chunk of time where there was not much (K-12) funding activity,鈥� Scheibe said.

The situation has turned around in recent years, with schools and community colleges in Oregon now updating existing facilities and building new ones with a total of more than $5 billion approved by voters.

Many of those projects reflect some new trends that are requiring landscape architects to approach projects in new ways and use out-of-the-box thinking. While flexible spaces in buildings have become popular, school officials also are looking for ways to use outdoor spaces to support curriculums, Scheibe said. Another popular feature: community gardens on school grounds that serve as classrooms while also providing food for student meals.

Being able to tap into the range of projects available, though, means making sure a firm has enough talented designers and landscape architects. For Scheibe’s firm, having offices in Eugene and Portland offers the benefit of being able to draw students from programs at the University of Oregon and Portland State University. But the firm still has to keep up what has become a competitive hiring environment, according to Scheibe.

鈥淲e’re finding good help, but it’s taking more effort,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’ve had to work harder, advertise a little more. And we’ve had to be a little faster in the process of interviewing and making a hiring decision. We’ve had to be a little more streamlined (in our process).鈥�