Developer HH Hunt never pictured the mature tree line in its Wilton on the James community as a central boulevard.

That image didn't materialize until the real estate development firm began working with the land planners and landscape architects at Designforum.

"Designforum wanted to preserve the trees and bring the houses closer to the street to create a community feel and increase sociability," said George Moore, HH Hunt's vice president of development. "It will be similar to Monument Avenue."

To emphasize the natural beauty of the land, Designforum positioned the lots in a way that would provide views of the river and the two lakes on the property in eastern Henrico County.

"They understand that every piece of the property is different and has unique environmental features," Moore said. "They incorporated those features into the land plan, and that creates a more desirable place to live."

Designforum partners and landscape architects Doug Cole, Andrew Bleckley and Shane Cusick met when they worked at DesignWorks in Charleston, S.C. They founded Designforum in Richmond in early 2006.

Their company offers services including urban design, community and regional planning, agricultural and rural land-use planning, landscape design and environmental planning, Cole said.

"Developers have an idea of what they want," he said. "They give us the pieces of the puzzle, and we put it all together."

The firm's landscape architects look at ways to improve the way people live and interact through their environment.

"Once you step out of your front door, landscape architecture is everything you see and feel, from designing a residential garden to designing a city and everything in between," Cusick said.

The company's headquarters is in the Emrick Flats development in Jackson Ward, a reflection of the partners' interest in historic preservation.

One of the company's specialties is new-urbanism neighborhoods, which are designed to contain a range of housing and jobs and to be walkable, Cusick said.

Daniel Sloan, a lawyer at McGuireWoods in Richmond, sees Designforum as a strong addition to the Richmond architectural community because of its focus on new urbanism in its designs.

"They are sensitive to new-urban principles and eager to incorporate sustainable-design techniques into their plans," said Sloan, the national counsel for the Congress for the New Urbanism and the U.S. Green Building Council.

Designforum works to put the human element into its designs. "A lot of times it's the intangibles of the project that make it special," Bleckley said. "Somebody has to think about the details that make the place memorable."

Since opening, Designforum has grown from one client to about 50.

The firm is working on projects throughout the local area, including Providence Creek mixed-use community and the Rutland Center office park, both in Hanover County; and Independence Village and Town Center residential and commercial projects in Petersburg.

"We've done well in diversifying," Cole said. "Many of our clients give us multiple projects. We work with local developers and development companies nationwide."

Bob Arnette, president of Coastal Virginia Developers in Suffolk, is working with Designforum on five projects, stretching from Williamsburg to Suffolk.

"We're doing some green communities now because of them," he said. "You don't see a lot of land planners thinking green."

Designforum uses the neighborhood community concept in designing projects.

"We are trying to get kids back out into the community for fresh air and social interaction," Cole said. "Our goal is qualify of life."

The company is creative in its approach, said George Emerson, president of Emerson Cos., a real estate development company that has worked on three projects with Designforum.

"They come up with some designs we haven't thought of," Emerson said. "They add a new dimension to land planning in Richmond that we are not used to seeing here."