Landscaper constructs award-winning project for Orange County's Village of Hope

Local contractor Richard Cohen Landscape & Construction, Inc. is the recent winner of two awards for their work at the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope.  The first award was through the Orange County chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA), winning a first place for a water feature in their Beautification Awards program.  At the recent state CLCA convention, the company was honored with one of the top six awards, the Special Effects Trophy Award for the project at the Village of Hope. 

The project, which features a ceramic porcelain urn that is over 16 feet tall and weighs 16,500 lbs, is also up for consideration in the Guinness World Records as the world’s largest and heaviest urn.

“We are honored to have received these awards that continue to show our commitment to quality and sustainability in each and every one of our projects,” said Richard Cohen, President of Richard Cohen Landscape & Construction, Inc. “It’s exciting to be a part of such a wonderful community that is found at the Village of Hope.”

Erected on the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope campus, a transitional facility for the homeless, the water feature displays a black and white ceramic urn created by world-renowned Denmark artist Peter Brandes.
The urn beautifully depicts the original 12 disciples from the Bible through symbols engraved on the circumference.  Bone-colored engraved symbols protrude from the urn and portray the “story” of each disciple from the Bible. Bible scriptures are also engraved into the piece.

“Thanks to Richard Cohen and his company, the residents at the Village of Hope have a gorgeous symbol of peace and tranquility,” said John Luker, Vice President, Finance and Compliance for The Orange County Rescue Mission. “Because this project was set on such a tight deadline and presented such challenging factors, the only possible completion of the project was with the high caliber of Richard Cohen Landscape & Construction.”

The construction and engineering of this project was a unique process. Special plumbing systems and a large pole and bracket system hold the urn in place so that it would sustain all weather and natural disasters.  The urn is held by a 15 foot, 14 in. diameter stainless steel pole, which is attached to a footing that is six feet into the ground.  The urn appears to be floating on top of water that sits in a 10 x 10  foot square-shaped base made out of black granite. The pole is disguised by flowing water out of the bottom of the urn so that the illusion can be made that the urn is floating– symbolizing Jesus walking on water in the Bible. Funded by the Howard and Roberta Ahmanson family fund, the entire feature is truly a magnificent structure.