When first approached, the property looked as if very little had changed in eighty years. Everything about it reflected an interest in summer breezes and beaches rather than labor-intensive gardening. In dramatic contrast, the new owner’s primary interest was in entertaining within a landscaped environment.
The final plan reconciles competing space requirements by relocating all driveway, drop-off and parking functions to the property’s edge. It is an efficient, compact arrangement that preserves a significant area for formal gardens. The front yard is now a circular entertainment lawn framed by formal rose gardens—the owner’s passion. The formality is carried around the house through a series of garden “rooms” and “doorways,” each serving a specific function, yet all strongly connected with axis lines and view corridors. Gates, portal, treillage and arbors help to define each garden room’s edges, walls and entrances. Carefully selected antique garden objects such as urns, statuary and obelisks are employed provide points of interest beyond the horticultural delights. Of particular interest are the rose arches inspired by Monet’s garden in Giverny, France. This lush garden environment provides its owner with hours of visual and spiritual enjoyment each day, yet also has accommodated numerous outdoor fundraising events with up to 500 guests.
Tokyo Park Tower
A new luxury residential block in Tokyo’s Jimbocho District called for a series of discreet garden and courtyard spaces that would serve as urban sanctuaries from the busy street life beyond. Water dominates the landscape language in the form of spouts, pools, water slides, and channels. A lush overlay of evergreen shrubs and flowering perennials brings the se...
Fuzhou Vanke City
Central Lake Forms Spine for Recreational Living
The Yongtai residential project, located inside the Red Cliff Scenic Area, borders the Dazhang River and consists of a 45-hectare watershed area surrounded by 12 small hills. It is part of an overall development that features a boutique hotel, a shopping street, clubhouses, residential high-rises, townhou...
Sky Terrace at the Grand Millenium
Located on a penthouse located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the terrace offers stunning panoramic views of Midtown, Central Park, Broadway, the East River, and the Hudson River. The design takes advantage of this prime location with glass parapets and low planters for unhindered views.
Cantilevered ten feet above the deck is the main feature of the t...
Ambleside Mixed-Use Development
Landscape improvements for this new mixed-use development integrate and enhance the streetscape improvement measures the city of West Vancouver is currently implementing, providing a vibrant and pedestrian friendly landscape along the entire perimeter of the site. The landscape design for the 1300 Block, Marine Drive South at Ambleside Village Centre contribut...