Designing with Strength: A Landscape Architect’s Guide to Interlocking Pavers

An Introduction to a five-part series delving into the materials, methods, and mindset behind durable and beautiful hardscape design.

The strength of a landscape isn't just about what you see—it's about what you understand. Beneath every well-crafted patio, plaza, or courtyard lies a series of decisions: materials selected, bases constructed, edges restrained, and details refined. Each choice, from the texture of the pavers to the sand between the joints, influences not only the appearance of a space but also its performance.

This series briefly explores those decisions.

As a licensed landscape architect and former hardscape contractor with years of field experience as an ICPI (Now HCNA)-certified installer, I've learned that great design doesn't end with the drawing set. It thrives in the details—the unseen layers and methods that ensure form and function remain aligned long after construction crews have left.

Too often, designers pass on their drawings and hope for the best. My aim here is to bridge that gap—to provide landscape architects, designers, and contractors with the shared language and understanding needed to create interlocking pavements that perform as beautifully as they look.

---

Why This Series Matters

Hardscape design has evolved far beyond roadways, patios, and walkways. Interlocking paver systems now form the foundation of backyards, streetscapes, plazas, waterfronts, and civic spaces worldwide. They offer aesthetic flexibility, permeability, and long-term sustainability—but only when properly understood and detailed.

The truth is simple: the performance of any pavement begins long before the first paver is set. It starts with design awareness, material selection, and an understanding of the forces at play beneath the surface.

This series, Designing with Strength, serves as an introduction for professionals who want to design and specify with confidence. Whether you're a landscape architect developing construction documents or a contractor interpreting them on-site, these articles aim to provide a foundational understanding to the craft of hardscape design.

This series IS NOT intended as a guide or instruction on how to install interlocking pavers, that is up to you to learn! For more in depth understanding of this subject I would suggest you look into the CMHA.

---

What We’ll Explore

Over the coming weeks, I will guide you through each stage of paver design and installation, translating field-proven practices into design insights.

Part 1 – Understanding Interlocking Pavers: Choosing the Right Unit for the Job

A brief guide to material selection, performance classifications, and the relationship between strength, texture, and intent.

Part 2 – Installation and Base Preparation: Building from the Ground Up

The basics every designer should know about soils, compaction, and base design—and how they determine long-term stability.

Part 3 – Holding the Line: Edge Restraints and the Art of Durable Paver Design

An exploration of the details that hold everything together.

Part 4 – Polymeric Sand and Joint Stabilization: Locking in Performance

Understanding how jointing materials function, fail, and impact the longevity of interlock.

Part 5 – Maintenance and Longevity: Designing for the Long View

The designer's role in ensuring every surface withstands the test of time.

---

The Designer’s Responsibility

Landscape architects and designers are increasingly tasked with balancing beauty with performance—form with function. In paving design, this means understanding not just how something looks, but how it works.

A paver installation is a layered system, and the design professional who understands that system has a far greater influence on its success. Each layer—from subgrade to surface—represents a decision that affects durability, maintenance, and user experience.

Designing with strength means designing with intent, information, and integrity.

---

Looking Ahead

Each article in this series is grounded in both design logic and field experience. You'll find practical recommendations, comparisons, and references to established industry standards through the Concrete Masonry & Hardscape Association (CMHA)—the organization now carrying forward the technical legacy of ICPI.

Together, these pieces are intended to serve as a reference for professionals and a resource for clients who wish to understand what makes these surfaces endure.

So whether you're specifying permeable pavers for a municipal plaza or planning a residential courtyard, this series will help you build from a place of clarity—starting with the fundamentals and moving upward, one layer at a time.

Next Post: Understanding Interlocking Pavers: Choosing the Right Unit for the Job

---

Author’s Note:Eric R. McQuiston, LLC provides landscape architecture, design, and consulting services throughout the Gulf South and other States. Eric is a licensed landscape architect and former ICPI-certified hardscape contractor. He blends design insight, construction experience, and environmental understanding to help clients create landscapes that endure—beautifully and responsibly.