surroundings
Of all the innovations related to pond technology, design and installation I’ve encountered in recent years, the most curious one to me has always been the “pondless waterfall.” In an industry where the highest aspiration is always toward achieving truly naturalistic results, having the water reach the bottom and percolate into a bed of stones rather than into a large, attractive pool of water leaves the designer or installer with the challenge of making the project work visually (and emotionally) in what can clearly be perceived as an artificial context. To overcome these perceptions,
In far too many cases, lighting in and around backyard swimming pools is an afterthought – and sometimes I get the impression that there’s not much thought involved at all. As I see it, our clients deserve better than an easy, one-size-fits-all approach, and that’s the main reason I developed the brief video presentation linked below: I wanted to give homeowners a bit of information that would help them understand both the importance of good lighting and get them ready to discuss a variety of available design solutions. As I suggest in the video, the old-style, under-the-diving-board placement of a 500-watt incandescent bulb should never
Successful design is, I think, most readily achieved by linking a landscape to the architecture it accompanies. During my years as a landscape designer, however, I've seen far too many places where the landscape was apparently designed in a vacuum, displaying little to no connection to the home or any other structures on site. To the contrary, our job as landshapers is to
Everywhere you turn these days, you see watershapers tackling projects that would have been unthinkable even a few years ago. It wasn't that long ago that simply raising a spa seemed like a big challenge, but these days vanishing edges, perimeter overflows and other ambitious details have become relatively common. And it's not just technology: Watershapers are gravitating toward great materials, colors, hardscape, plants and amenities - signs of real growth and, for the most part, a very good thing. With this broadening list of possibilities, however, have come some growing pains. The industry's like a teenager with
Serenity, comfort, repose. Delight in harmony with nature. These were the guiding principles behind The Point, one of 114 elegant homes gracing the 145-acre Hybernia development on the western boundary of Highland Park, a celebrated Chicago suburb located about 25 miles from downtown on a stretch of Lake Michigan known as the city's North Shore. We were initially called to Hybernia by a true visionary, David Hoffman, president of Red Seal Homes, the prime contractor for the development. He told us how his firm had struggled for years to acquire the parcels included in the development and wanted us to see that he was sensitive and attuned to the special nature of the setting and the history of its community. His first request: a design for a building that would house a pool and hydrotherapy spa for two of his most discriminating clients as a safe, secluded, calming harbor from their heavy international business travels. As it turned out, however, this was just the beginning of what would
Tucked into a small cove in the mountains behind La Quinta in California's lower Coachella Valley, The Quarry Golf Club is hidden, ultra-private and basically unknown to all but members of the golfing elite and the wealthy few who play the course. First conceived by entrepreneur Bill Morrow and designed by renowned golf course architect Tom Fazio, the course is a prime example of just how beautiful golf courses can be - and of how critical a role landscaping and watershapes can play in defining their character and aesthetics. Our challenge was to embroider the course's 18 PGA-sanctioned, championship-caliber holes with
The Pacific Northwest is full of spectacular scenery. From where I live near the Puget Sound, for example, you can see the Olympic range running along a peninsula to the west and the Cascade range off to the east. Looking southeast, Mt. Rainier is a silent, majestic sentinel silhouetted against an ever-changing sky. It's a beautiful place to live and perfect when it comes to design inspiration - especially when your work is creating naturalistic gardens and watershapes. One of the most spectacular waterfalls in the entire northwest is just a short drive up Interstate 90 from me, a place called Snoqualmie Falls. Local hiking trails are dotted by scores of perennial waterfalls that cascade down mountainsides. For me, there is nothing more refreshing than clambering up a steep grade and rounding the corner to find a misty, shady waterfall. It invigorates the soul and encourages one and all to keep climbing in the hope of seeing even more spectacular scenery. The attractions of nature and its inherent beauty are much enjoyed by people who live around here. In recent years, I've seen a trend toward bringing slices of that grandeur down to a residential scale in gardens that use water in motion as a key feature. It's the water that
One of the keys to designing effective spaces for human occupation is to create opportunities for movement from one place to another. This component of mobility adds functionality and utility to just about all spaces while keeping them vital and interesting. In watershape design, we have several options when it comes to introducing mobility to our work, including pathways and bridges that lead to
At our firm, we treat every project and every customer as if they're one of a kind - which in truth they are. And we've been lucky in developing a high-end clientele that, on the whole, is looking for something special: They enable us to treat each project as an individual work of art; at the same time, they challenge us to stretch our own abilities and increase the variety of design solutions we bring to the drafting table. In many cases, this requires something of balancing act between what clients think they're after and the practicalities of the site itself, the architecture of adjoining structures and the views of surrounding areas. For that reason, each of our
