A suburban lot reimagined, with lots of inspiration from the local context.
I wanted to reconnect the Recca Residence to the native habitat and landforms it is situated in, while still providing the outstanding family-friendly gathering spaces and gardening areas that the client needed.
First I did a site inventory and mapped the assets, flows, and challenges on a site base map. I took that to the drawing board and pieced together a concept plan.
To ground my design in place, I chose a locally-resonant core concept.
Meander
verb
1.
(of a river or road) follow a winding course.
synonyms: zigzag, wind, twist, turn, curve, curl, bend, snake
2.
(of a person) wander at random.
synonyms: stroll, saunter, amble, wander, roam, ramble, rove,
drift, maunder, stray, straggle;
noun
1.
a winding curve or bend of a river or road.
"the river ows in sweeping meanders"
synonyms: bend, loop, curve, twist, turn, turning, coil, zigzag,
oxbow, convolution;
2.
a circuitous journey, especially an aimless one.
"a leisurely meander around the twisting coastline road"
synonyms: wander, ramble, stroll, saunter, amble;
3.
an ornamental pattern of winding or interlocking lines, e.g., in a
mosaic.
Sketches started to shape how I might turn the concept into something tangible in the design.
My final design brought the conceptual Meander into place on the site, while providing a fire pit, expanded pond with pergola, reduced (but not eliminated) lawn, expanded and more accessible terraced vegetable gardens, two “micro-orchards” for the permaculture-passionate client to experiment with fruit tree guilds, and several themed micro-gardens for clustered perennials. Lots of seating options and site lines allow the client grandma to keep at least one eye on her young grandchildren. The outdoor kitchen is designed to build off of and protect an existing cob oven, while adding dimension, storage and safety.
Louis Wertz 