Contemporary Landscape Design

Another one of our challenging sites.  This property was not on the water but not far at all.  It was though probably one of the windiest spots around.  The north east winds rip up the street and are accentuated by the surrounding houses.  This really dictates the material and planting palettes.  The design brief was simple enough.  The existing house had not rear garden and our clients had young children.  It is important to have a purpose for nearly every inch of space in the landscape.  Whatever the purpose its ok.  That means we try and design positive spaces.  No dead space that has not been thought about and just left.  That is poor design, and lazy design…..we always start a design with determining the purpose of a space first.  From that the design will evolve and the overall landscape will be successful over time.

Due to the fact that there was no rear landscape the front landscape had to be designed as a durable child play area that was safe at all times.  That means a functional space that has really good visual access from the house.  Safety in this case meant a masonry front fece that complies with council conditions.  But not just encircling the house with a bland wall….we articulated the wall, stepping it in and out so that it look far better along the streets cape and reflected the character of the house without trying to be too over designed and detracting from it.

This landscape also included a new front drive and pedestrian entry.  We used recycled hardwood bridge beams that were very challenging for our construction team but were the focus on the landscape.  Sitedesign also were involved in the house renovation embracing the beach character and flowing this through to the landscape.  

Landscape works budget $120, 000