How to Add Movement and Interest to Narrow Spaces

How do you define a narrow space?
A narrow space is any area between two forms that is longer than it is wide. Mathematically this is generally approximates to a 5 to 1 ratio. However, there is not hard fast rule to this. These places are typically so narrow very little can be done with them, and many developers simply leave them alone hoping no one will notice they are there.

Our goal is to make these erstwhile eyesores into special points of interest on the Houston landscape.

Do such narrow spaces occur more in residential environments or commercial environments?
We find them in both of these environments. In commercial environments, they may be found between buildings or in the areas between buildings and atriums. In residential areas, you will often see them between a house and some other outdoor structure. Sometimes they even occur between a home and a stone wall that surrounds the back yard.

In these settings they are a particular eyesore, because while the rest of the yard looks great, these linear spaces are simply sitting there with nothing in them, creating emptiness in the midst of a diversity of forms.

What parts of the Houston have more narrow spaces in landscapes?
Narrow spaces are more common in the urban areas of our city than in the more spread out parts of the Houston landscape. In commercial environments they are most commonly found between office buildings and atriums. This often presents an awkward appearance for the office park management, because while the atrium itself appears superb, the space around it looks drab and wasted. Something has to be done here to make it more presentable to visiting clients and more inviting to tired employees on break.

In residential areas you always see narrow spaces around townhomes. By nature these dwellings are taller than they are wide, and they typically reside on lots that are small to begin with. Many are surrounded by stone walls and have mini-garages. Some are practically side-by-side with other townhomes. Every time we see adjacent structures like this, there is some area between them that is fallow from a vegetation perspective and very challenging to work with from the standpoint of deliberate forms.

However, without some very creative landscaping techniques, these narrow spaces found in both residential and commercial Houston landscapes are typically unusable areas from a developmental perspective.

What hardscape elements do you use to add movement and interest?
In areas where the ground lies partly covered in shadow for much of the day, and where planting a garden may prove impractical, there are other things we can do to turn an otherwise drab narrow space into a point of interest. One favorite method of doing this is to build a curved walkway through the area.

This breaks up its linear narrowness. This can then be further magnified by adding gravel or texture patterns to either side of the walkway. When done correctly, this not only breaks up linearity, but it also adds a feeling of dynamic movement.

What are some other specific things you can do to make narrow spaces keynotes of Houston landscape design?
Custom wall planters and custom trellises both provide excellent support for the existing linearity of the space. In some businesses and schools, scenes of the surrounding Houston landscape can be painted on a wall in the form of a mural. For Italian homes this also works very well because many of these houses are very tall structures and the suggestion of vegetation growing up the sides of the wall is very reminiscent of Mediterranean hillsides. Mirrors can also be installed to reflect a custom garden.