Well connected

Nothing exists in a vacuum and this saying rings particularly true for a landscaping project. A landscape architect is mindful throughout a project's planning stages that distinct outdoor areas need to relate to each other as well as to the residence.

This project by landscape designer Garth Scott completes a comprehensive home renovation where the front of the stately residence was left largely untouched. At the side and rear, however, extensive contemporary renovations were introduced.

"With the modernisation of the rear of the home completed, and the spa and pool structures in place, I was asked to create an outdoor surround that would provide day-to-day utility," says Scott. "I approached the landscaping as a series of flowing outdoor living areas."

Little was done to the formal frontage, but at the side of the house, Scott raised an existing lawn to bring an easy indoor-outdoor flow from the new family area's French doors.

"This area has a formal air, and to further this feel we introduced semi-circular ends to the lawn and framed it with a concrete border," he says.

Beyond the lawn, towards the rear of the property, lies a pool and spa area, with a contemporary outdoor dining area to the right, behind the home.

"Extensive concrete and stonework were used to visually connect the dining area and pool area," says the landscape architect. "To under-play a step up in levels to the pool area we walled the side of the pool in schist this stonework extends across a set of steps to the adjacent dining area's fireplace wall and barbecue surround, linking the two areas."

While the modern outdoor kitchen, barbecue, fireplace and table create a self-sufficient entertainment space, they all had to connect visually to the pool and the home. Understated classic elements introduced into the outdoor living spaces include a weatherboard ceiling and steel gates.

"One way to marry the new and the old is to introduce simple elements that sit well with both styles," Scott says. "For example, the simple geometric forms of the connecting gates could have been designed 100 years ago or yesterday."

The property also extends back beyond the pool area, climbing into bush at the rear of the section. Here, too, Scott created a seamless transition.

"While the boulders and waterfall were already in place, I introduced tropical plantings around them that give way to native flora further up the hill the property's formal frontage is contrasted with a rear that visually dissolves into the tree line," he says.

Story by: Charles Moxham