John,
I am doubtful of being able to submit on this exercise but will certainly be following along. Quick question though, how is the parking dealt with? Beyond the wall or on the street?

Paul,
Good question.

The house has no back lane. The garden walls are on the property line and shared with neighbors at the back and on the side. Parking in this neighborhood is all on the street.

Not knowing what grows well in that part of the world, I’m just doing a guess here. Divide the back yard in half. Put a garden shed in the west corner (if there is going to be grass they need someplace to put the lawnmower) Bicycle storage in the walkway on the northwest side. off of the house on the southeast side, have a deck at floor level of the house cover 2/3s of that half of the back yard. I would put a pergola type roof from the house over about half of the deck, and train some vines to grow over it. In the south corner I would have a shade/fruit tree of some sort. And a long the back wall I would have about 3 feet of space for flowers or tomato’s or something, with some sort of fruit trees espaliered along the wall. I like edible landscaping. If your going to go through the work of growing something, why not beable to eat some of it? (I also need to figure out how to draw those neat plans like some of you do)

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Since the Wong’s favour modern interiors, I felt a similar language should continue into the garden. I sought to create a crisp and formal outdoor space that compliments last week’s interior décor and layout proposal.

I see that JimG made a similar suggestion of dividing the space, which I did in this scheme; creating a Deck for Outdooor Dining / Lounging and one that is level with the main floor for ease of accessibility.

The lower half consists of a Grass Court for use as recreational space or passive lounging and a contemplative Water Sculpture Garden. Each ‘room’ is delineated by planting beds and an allee of decidous trees to help mitigate the sun’s midday and late afternoon heat. The tree canopies also create a ‘ceiling’ for the outdoor rooms.

I chose the east gate as a primary access point into the garden for guests. A pergola which runs along the east side entry, creates an intimate procession to the garden and helps to emphasize the sculpture at the end of the walk as a point of interest.

There is a strong connectedness between the house and garden with uninterupted views from the main living spaces to each of the outdoor areas. Night lighting would further engage and encourage outdoor activities well into the evening.

Louis,
Very nice plan. The strategy of bisecting the garden is a good one because it tightens up the deck area. The water sculpture garden is a nice touch.

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Some precedents…

Also Louis – I really like the symmetry and serenity of your design.

John – as always, thanks for your comments and suggestions

Frances,
Thank you for posting the project and congratulations on designing your first outside space. They are trickier to design than one might think aren’t they.

Your use of trees on the south and west sides should work well for controlling heat. The seating area and dining space are also well organized within themselves. I think your dissatisfaction might stem from the way this seating and dining area “floats” on the grassed area and the dissociation of the deck from the rest of the design. The grass, deck, and seating seem like three pieces of a puzzle that haven’t quite been locked into place yet. Do you agree?

BradW – Andrea Cochran’s project with the screen in the first precedent acts as a backdrop to the cube sculpture in the foreground, but also appears to function as a sliding shoji door entrance to what may be an outdoor studio or even small shed.

For the Wong proposal, i thought a similar idea could provide a backdrop to the water sculpture, to articulate the brick wall and to terminate the view centerline from the Living Room.

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John – i agree with your comment about the water sculpture and its role, even though it is as you say, quite small and contained. Because of its size, I also like to think of it as a much more manageable feature element than say a large pool or the cliched free-form ‘cascading water pond’.

Also, I’m pleased you noticed the surface material proposed around the sculpture. The gravel or fine shale mulch was a textural counterpoint to the precise nature of the water cube – thereby heightening the qualities of both.