Welcome to How They Pulled It Off, where we take a close look at one particularly challenging aspect of a home design and get the nitty-gritty details about how it became a reality.
When homeowners Andrew and Kristina de Ambrosis enlisted Outdoor Establishments, a Sydney-based landscape design and construction firm, to build out the gardens surrounding their modern house and pool, the project essentially started from scratch. The house, designed by Richard Cole Architecture, was built in the mid 2010s; Outdoor Establishments got involved in 2021.
In the front lawn, a water feature was installed, “which we saw as an opportunity to emulate the cascading creek and downstream river,” says Graham. “It was carved on-site from a boulder that we craned in.” The plants are 90 percent native to Sydney, including the bed of pink flowers called kangaroo paws.
“Sometimes people get what I call ‘construction fatigue,’ where they’ve spent a year and a half on a build and they’re over it. They finished the project and the family had been living on turf and the relics of a post-construction garden for about five years,” says Trystan Graham, cofounder of Outdoor Establishments. Graham and his partner Matthew Hook used the homeowners’ familiarity with the property to their advantage when it came to the build. “It gave them time to really understand the landscape and how they use the outdoor space. They gave us a comprehensive and informative brief of what they wanted,” says Graham.
The homeowners, who are both engineers, already appreciated good design that also problem-solves, so Outdoor Establishments leaned into the couple’s pragmatic mindset.
At the front of the house are large bedroom windows, which were initially exposed to the street. “We’ve got sun-loving plants like coral bark Japanese maples, swamp banksia, lillypilly, and grevilleas to provide shelter and privacy to the house,” says Graham.
Natalie Hunfalvay
Graham mentions the site was “unbelievably challenging because of the hill” since heavy rains run off to the creek, which impacted construction. “We made changes to the drainage because of how much water was moving through the site and we needed to protect it from weather damage.”
First, the team considered the complex climate of Sydney, which Graham describes as humid-subtropical. Think: periods of extreme rain and humidity followed by periods of extreme dryness “where the grass turns brown and bushfire attacks are high risk,” he says. The vegetation, of course, would need to be highly adaptive.
“A handful of noninvasive exotics were used, mainly succulent species from the Americas, that tolerate the very hot dry summers but also the heavy rain that we get,” Graham says. The soil is well-drained so that water passes through quickly, ensuring the roots don’t rot.
Next, the team noted the large slope that the house sits on, which continues to roll down to Lane Cove National Park, a protected bushland. “On the low side of the house and down past the swimming pool, there’s a creek—Blackbutt Creek—that runs out to Lane Cove River, that runs out to Sydney Harbor,” says Graham, so naturally, the “planning controls were strict.” So instead of working against the terrain, the team took direct inspiration from the national park.
By the pool, a wide range of plants create interesting variation in heights, textures, and shapes. Since Sydney can be prone to bushfires during dry seasons, the pathways and pool fencing were built with nonflammable materials.
The solution that Outdoor Establishments came up with is a nearly all-native garden, with structures or pathways made from locally sourced natural materials often found in national park infrastructure. Sandstones, boulders, gravel, and Cor-Ten steel are some of the textures that abound on the property. Loads of lush plants thrive around the house, wonderfully contrasting the sleekness of the contemporary house.
How they pulled it off: A natural landscape design
- Survey the land before designing. Become familiar with the landscape of your own property, as well as the landscape of your local nature area to see what works with the climate. “We leaned on the national park for inspiration,” says Graham, referring to the Lane Cove bushland that backs up against the site.
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Research climate-appropriate plants. When in doubt, use native plants, especially if your climate is particularly challenging. Sydney’s weather patterns teeter from flood to fire season, so only a few tolerant imports, like American succulents, were included.
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Use locally sourced materials. Gravel, a byproduct from a quarry, was used for pebble areas. A climate-conscious FRP recycled mesh material was used for walkways. Sandstones appear throughout the gardens. Select materials that can be found in your local park infrastructure.
The team cleverly created “little pockets for the family’s dogs to be secure and be safe in,” says Graham. By the fire pit, the team kept natural rocks with moss. A boundary fence was painted black and covered with mesh panels so that leaves could poke through. “We didn’t want it to look completely engineered; we still wanted it to look natural and subtle.”
“These native gardens don’t have to be overly maintained. Their beauty is in their fluffiness and wildness,” says Graham. “The big thing would be staying on top of the weeds as they generally pop through, but the gardens themselves can be left alone to fill out and look beautiful.”
Project Credits:
Landscape Design: Trystan Graham and Matthew Hook, Outdoor Establishments / @outdoorestablishments
