ABOUT THE PROJECT

This gorgeous traditional home with a heritage facade in Sydney’s Inner West had been given a thoughtful, architecturally designed renovation, including a generously proportioned extension with a strong, structurally dominant rear. But as with many such projects, budget pressure often means the landscape is left as an afterthough. Now, after a few years, the owners wanted to create a truly bespoke space that equals the architectural vision of the home.

The brief for this project was to take an amorphous rear yard and create useable, defined zones for various functions. The existing deck was a good start, but was disconnected from the garden by the layout of the steps and a large planter, leaving most of the generous rear yard to go to waste.

One of the key functional items for the client was space for outdoor dining and BBQing. We created a dining nook in a cozy space between the house and garage, with plenty of space for seating under a shaded pergola. The design of the pergola visually connects the garden with the materiality and architectural style of the extension.

The lawn was reshaped into a central open area, with a smaller flexible seating area in the rear of the garden for relaxing and casual gathering, with additional shade trees planted around it for summer cover and to cool the rear of the home. The side passage became a textural progression of foliage with smaller arbors punctuating the space, and an informal daybed secreted in the garden for a quiet getaway.