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A River Oaks
couple contracted Exterior Worlds to design a contemporary
garden behind the gym in their two-story home. The original
garden was very traditional in both style and function, and was
used exclusively as an area to plant foliage and various species
of flowers. Its only ornamentation was a three-tiered fountain,
which looked outdated and made noise throughout the night due to
failing pumps. Our clients asked us to convert a portion of this
space into something more functional, and to create a more
contemporary garden design throughout the remainder of the
property. They also requested we replace the fountain with a
more
contemporary water feature.
Because the garden had previously been designed in the shape of
a near-perfect rectangle, we already had the basic geometry
necessary for the development of a new, more contemporary style.
We developed our
landscaping plan by breaking this area up into proportional
quadrilateral sections of varying size. Some of these would
later be used as patio space, others as garden space, and the
last and largest section would be converted into a far more
sophisticated water feature and fountain.
Before
Construction
 We began the project by building a red brick patio over the
first section just outside the window of the home gym. Rather
than placing the bricks in a standard, linear fashion, we took a
more eclectic approach. We laid the bricks in alternating
diagonal rows that created a sense of immediate movement the
moment you stepped onto the patio. This had the effect of
drawing both the feet and the eyes toward the center of the
property, and it also served to immediately establish the
garden’s new, contemporary design.
In the large central section of the property, we created a
rectangular koi pond the size of a small swimming pool. We
deliberately built it to be the central, dominating feature of
the landscape that would anchor all other garden elements. We
built a two-inch coping around the pond, stocked it with koi,
and installed lighting in the fountain’s corners at the end
closest to the home. Our clients particularly liked this new
water feature when it was finished. Neither of them were
swimmers, but they had always enjoyed sitting by pools at the
homes of friends. Now, they could sit by their own pond, and
watch the koi fish swim around the lighted fountain.
To further develop the contemporary design of the garden, we
added several more important landscaping features and physical
structures. We built another patio, identical to the first, at
the opposite end of the pond. This framed the water, bringing a
sense of balance and refined containment to the landscape. We
also built a sculpture garden near one side of the pond to add
an artistic element to the water, masonry, and surrounding
greenery. To do all this, of course, we had to significantly
narrow the perimeters of the garden itself, so by the time we
finished our construction, there was no room left to install a
walkway. Working with what we had, as opposed to what we did not
have, we built the walkway across the water. Large pedestals
were placed in the pond, capped by large limestone pads that
mimicked the effect of floating on water. These pads were large
enough to support the weight of an adult, and provided both a
means of transit across the pond, and varying points of
observation from within the pond itself.
Contemporary garden designs like the one in this case study are
typically a blend of geometry, natural features, and creative
use of sculpture, masonry, or other man-made forms. The exact
dimensions and layout of such a garden varies widely on a
case-by-case basis. This is partly due to the fact that
“contemporary” can refer to any number of progressive or
eclectic concepts, rather than something definitive that can be
identified as a specific artistic style or history period.
Gardens designed in this manner often prove to be the most
effective means of unifying a home with Nature itself, because
forms that are both organic and inorganic are combined in new,
innovative ways that blur the assumed boundaries between the
natural and man-made, and create a new aesthetic based on
natural tranquility combined with a passion for the eclectic and
the progressive.
For more the 20 years
Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's
fine neighborhoods.
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