Almost everyone dreams about building their own home. Engaging a landscape architect in the early stages of home design will ensure that important factors such as access restrictions, home orientation, site limitations and essential services are considered before tradesmen arrive.
With what seems like endless list of selections, layouts and cost variations building can be a long, daunting process. Whilst it may seem too early and perhaps unnecessary to think about landscaping, you can never start to consider and plan your outdoor areas too soon.
As Perth’s lot sizes shrink and house footprints expand, the Aussie backyard pool still sits high on our collective wish list. Achieving this on a narrow or reduced size lot can be tricky, and often the pool shell needs to form part of the home’s foundation and/or be integrated within masonry boundary walls. This presents many design opportunities to create a unique and appealing outdoor space.
Technical items such as boundary soil surcharge, setback requirements, and structural loading capacity and finished paving levels will all need to be resolved and documented prior to building commencement.
Plant selection can make or break any outdoor project and it is important to consider not only aesthetics but also potential practical gains when considering your softscape palette. Correct placement of deciduous trees and climbers has the ability to keep a courtyard shady and cool during summer whilst allowing the winter sun to shine through and warm your home.
Careful consideration of your site’s orientation and aspect sooner rather than later will illuminate opportunities to retain views and breezeways. This ensures that traffic noise, street/vehicle lighting and unsightly overlooking issues are mitigated through your chosen vegetation.
Planning your external works in conjunction with your new home will not only safeguard that essential services are in place but also that all opportunities have been identified and taken advantage of.
Engaging a landscape architect early to work alongside your builder will avoid costly re-work and variation costs, ensuring a quality outcome to your outdoor areas.
