Vertical Meadow
Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand
Commissioned by the Festival of Flowers 2010 and the Canterbury Museum, we have proudly presented a 16 metre long vertical meadow on the front face of the Canterbury Museum, which comprises of only biodegradable and recyclable materials the bulk mainly being wool.
After rejecting the initial concept of building a hard structured green wall fearing the consequences of a structural failure, we took a completed different approach designing and constructing this living art as if it is a piece of fabric, which flowed down the façade of the museum’s tower.
Inspired by, and celebrating, the typical kiwi backyard that may have gotten a little out of hand. The display tested the ideas of sustainability by tracking the life of the project in a film from the seeding of the idea - to the final destination of the living wall after the festival is over.
0800 Pool Hire
Ellerslie International Flower Show 2010, Christchurch, New Zealand
This project came about by wondering what the life expectancy of an average garden exhibit was after the show. We have focused on a cradle to cradle approach that takes the unexpected and turns it into a piece of art that gives cool relief before returning it back to its original and mundane
industrial function.
This project is not about the exhibition days at the show but how a process was created to deliver the final exhibition to the show and what happens to it after the show. It felt great to see people enjoy dipping their hands to fend off the late
summer heat during the show, and it felt even better to have only a cup of screws left after the garden was completely de-constructed knowing that everything has been reused and recycled.
Hiremath Residence
Mumbai, India
Working with Bijoy Jain on this private beach front house created a bare site into a lush courtyard gardens. The hand crafted landscape surrounds the unique architectural features such as the infinity edge swimming pool, the underground step well entrance and the outdoor dinning area to create
complete yet separated experiences for the owner and guests. A series of detailed landscape spaces are sited around the house for the visitors and turned the otherwise open inner courtyard into a winding journey that flow freely through indoor and outdoor spaces.
Kolkata Hope School
Calcatta, India
Multi-award winning documentary “Born into Brothels” has generated a huge amount of response, one of which was putting effort into building a school for these children. Using local materials, techniques and traditional landscape elements such as plinths and step wells, to create
a landscape that will feel like a community and a home. A series of outdoor classrooms draw children into their learning subjects, and a living wall system that has been integrated into the boundary security fence around the school not only keep the kids safe but also filters the water
from the laundry facilities where the parents work to the irrigation system that keeps the sports field green.
Seelig Residence
New York, USA
The landscape creates a series of rainwater features and gardens reusing existing stone materials to form edges and temporary moss covered rainwater pools. Swales were used to direct water to the different gardens reducing the client’s irrigation requirements
Cranbourne West Precinct Structure Plan
Melbourne, Australia
A short review of a faulted structure plan has turned into 2 year project involving complete redevelopment of the urban design and structure plan layout for this 780ha site in Melbourne. Care was put into developing the Employment Residential Interface along the central spine road,
which aimed at solving the tension between the residential and industrial development. We has also developed a Receation and Open Space Strategy” that outlines all the different reserve types in the design and explains in detail the use of each every reserve in the design. The project ended on a high
note by winning the expensive and painful planning hearing and our work was described by the judge panel as “comprehensive and innovative”.
Whakatane River Redevelopment
Whakatane, New Zealand
The site is a traditional wetland site used for the collection of a mud richly colored from years of organic build up. Under local council management the site had been used as a storm water drain, which had involved spraying and excavation each year to remove sediment build up. This use was not acceptable for the local community and we worked to restore its traditional use. Working with a local tribal elder, tribal weavers and a women’s group
the site was reclaimed and established as a wetland, and the work was implemented by the local community groups. The planting, boardwalks, deck and traditional carved markers were laid out to give the community access to some areas but not the areas of special significance to the local weavers. At the heart of the river a previous engineering miscalculation in cut and fill created the opportunity to design an amphitheater overlooking
the Whakatane River and the eastern Bay of Plenty coastline. The land form was designed in collaboration with Jackie Browning and followed the form of White Island (an off shore island visible from the site). The fill material to create the island was from an old brown field site and the planting was coastal native and hardy to the soil and climatic conditions. The newly excavated drainage channels were developed with estuarine native plant species.