Where Does Good Design Begin?

For me good design begins with considering function.  It has to work.

What is the purpose of the space – its intended use?  Can you make that work?

How does each space (and its intended use) relate to the others?  Can you make that work?

Don’t disregard the artistry in the beginning, but take a a good, long, analytical look at the space.  The elements and features will follow.

The residential property is divided into “spaces” or rooms as you often hear them called.  Typical spaces might be: arrival & parking, entrances, living & entertaining, etc. You’ll undoubtedly have wishes and requirements for these spaces; they’ll be both functional and aesthetic.

How these spaces visually (and functionally) connect with one another is key.  Think of how the rooms of a house are designed.  It must make sense.

“We are looking to create visual order throughout the design.”

Lines and forms are the “visual glue” that hold your design together.  For the most part they should follow a theme.

A theme could be curvilinear with soft flowing lines and shapes.  This is a style I use often, perhaps because I personally like it, but it also works well in many situations.

Straight lines and angles can make an impressive theme too.

Certain situations can sometimes influence a particular theme like a home’s architecture and style.  Whatever the theme, using it consistently unifies the design.

Think Floors, Walls and Ceiling

So much of this topic could be related to just the landscape surface or ground level.  In fact looking at a typical landscape plan you’re naturally focusing on the lines and shapes as if you were looking down from above.  Sort of like the view in the two previous pictures.

However, equally important is the “spatial design”.  This is the 3 dimensional aspect, or the walls and ceiling of the space.  It’s what you feel as you walk through the landscape.

As you’d expect you compose the “spatial design” with vertical elements like walls, fences and shrubs.  Even the lamp post in this picture is helping define space.

The “ceiling”.  I think this is so important in the landscape.  The ceiling is comprised of those elements that extend vertically above us.  Yes it certainly includes overhead structures like arbors and pergolas, but trees as well.  Think of a new housing development without any trees – in this case, trees should be the first thing in your landscape budget.

Having these vertical elements in the composition helps to define the space.  Now combine them in a consistent theme of lines and form.  Your unified design will just flow.  Folks will feel comfortable and even secure in the landscape.  And that’s great.

The front yard establishes a setting for the home.  It helps to integrate the house onto the property and welcome visitors.  All the elements should be there and relating to one another.

The back yard should meet all the lifestyle aspects of the family such as recreation and entertaining.  It’s common for the backyard to be designed with different “outdoor rooms” for the different activities.  There might be a patio or deck with an area for dining and an area for barbecuing.  Another space might be for relaxing and conversation.  Other spaces could be designed for playing games, vegetable gardening, a herb garden, water garden, etc.

Often it’s desirable to separate the front yard landscape from the back yard, especially where the space is expansive and open. It’s natural to expect a transition from the more public space in the front yard to the private space in the back yard.

In the picture below we had this condition. An open expanse of lawn gave no sense of the 2 very different spaces.

The solution was to traverse a planting bed across the side yard from the home’s foundation to the property line. As soon as the new bed area was cut and prepared the look and feeling changed.

Notice how the elements in the new garden do not have to be tall and dense to create a feeling of separation. The arbor with climbing Honeysuckle really conveys the notion of a gateway from one room to the next.

Several years after this initial planting and bed design the homeowners wished to add a fence.  There were grandchildren and a dog they wanted to keep safe in the yard.  We chose a decorative aluminum fence for the perimeter and a matching wood gate for the arbor.

This Project’s Different

Over the next few weeks I’d like to show you the evolution of this project. The situation and design challenge were quite…unique.

The design client lives in a house behind the fence and evergreen trees in the picture above. The fence is attached to a timber retaining wall. The lawn area you see in the foreground is also the client’s property and sits 7 to 8′ lower than where the house is.

If this property has one owner, why is it so divided?

Evidently the previous owner bought this lower neighboring property, which had an old house on it. They demolished the house and “annexed” the land. What were two separate properties became one.

From inside the house you could not even see the lower property.

The only access down to this property was through two wooden arbors. One arbor led you down a slope of grass (top picture, right side); the other down a series of steps to an old, dilapidated tennis court (bottom picture).

The homeowners requested a new design that integrated the two levels of property, both visually and functionally. They have 4 small children and this lower area was to provide a large and level lawn for play. The tennis court was to be renovated and a cabana-like building was to be constructed near the court.

Once we had all the project requirements clearly spelled out, the design process began.

• A base map was drawn to scale showing all existing features on the site including the large trees.
  
• Elevation measurements were taken and plotted on the drawing.
  
• An inventory list was made of all existing plantings and any other materials that could be of potential use in the re-design, such as the decorative Walpole fence and arbors.

Already I could see this was going to be a challenging, yet rewarding project.

Working with the base map drawing, topographic plan and a roll of tracing paper, I put together a few general concepts of how the space and grades could be arranged to meet their requirements. Designing freely with lines and shapes, but without detail, is the best strategy to create several ideas quickly.

In this next post the project sitework gets underway.

There needed to be a separation between these two spaces as well as a “point of entry” or gateway to the backyard.

This handcrafted garden arbor design by Walpole Woodworkers satisfied both requirements. It’s built from a PVC composite material made by AZEK, which is virtually maintenance free and will not rot.  Even close up it’s hard to tell it’s not wood.

The benefits are felt on both sides of this garden arbor design and planted separation. The parking area now has a clearly defined space & purpose without mixing with the living area in the backyard. And when the visitor finally passes through the arbor…well, I’ll let you be the judge.