Business Spotlight: BPI Outdoor Living

BPI OUTDOOR LIVING 7802 E. 88th St. Indianapolis, IN 317-259-4062 bpioutdoorliving.com

Writer / Jon Shoulders Photographer / Ellie Sophia Photography

Since 1999, BPI Outdoor Living has been helping customers with outdoor living and landscaping needs. Initially a hardscape business, BPI grew into a full-service design, building and landscaping company for outdoor living spaces after J.D. Durst, current president, joined founder Tony Lausas at the company in 2004.

Durst says what sets the company apart is his team’s collective commitment to helping customers establish an outdoor space that is both timeless and functional.

see the trend of outdoor living spaces really take off, and around 2006 we started to change our core focus to being truly about outdoor living spaces. As outdoor living has evolved, so have our offerings, but one of the things we pride ourselves on is being at the forefront of trends and being innovators.”

New clients can expect to meet with the BPI team at their future outdoor living site to discuss specific ideas, strategies and potential budget implications for 45 minutes to an hour, and subsequently create a plan that works for the client’s lifestyle needs and preferences. BPI’s thorough design process includes initial sketches and three-dimensional renderings that allow clients to understand and visualize exactly what their space will look like. “We don’t look at the client relationship as transactional - it’s more about how we can be a trusted advisor for a potential client,” Durst says, adding that the BPI staff includes a total of 26 designers, project managers and crew members. “Our approach is very thorough, and we can be a one-stop-shop from the design all the way through to the build process. We want to help the client maximize their space and create a return on their investment.”

This one-stop-shop experience includes an indoor and outdoor showroom at the BPI Outdoor Living offices on East 88th Street that can make the design experience convenient for each customer. Whether a client has needs for a patio, pergola, covered structure, attached living space, outdoor kitchen or fully-equipped outdoor living

room with audio and video systems, BPI can help each client select the most fitting styles, materials and finishes for their project and budget.

The professional design and landscape team at BPI can tackle not only the many aesthetic considerations of an outdoor living project but also the important scientific components that need to be considered such as water drainage and local ecology.

“With a lot of the multi-purpose spaces and outdoor rooms, we try to create something that in 10 or 15 years will still have that timeless feel,” says Kyla Scheuermann, lead landscape designer. “For example, pickleball courts are in right now, but we might explore having the court double as a basketball court or a driveway so that it’s timeless and can still be trendy depending on what you want to use it for.”

Durst says BPI Outdoor Living tackles the occasional commercial project, but primarily focuses on residential outdoor living projects.

“A lot of landscape companies are starting to dabble in outdoor living, but we are truly outdoor living experts,” Durst says. “We’ve been that way from the beginning and honed our focus back in the early 2000s. We eat, sleep and breathe our company vision, which is to create the space for memorable outdoor experiences. We realize these spaces we are creating are for future birthday parties, retirement parties and graduation celebrations. We’re not just building a space, we’re building a place where life happens.”