Gulf / GARDEN
Our vision and execution operates at any scale.
— John Goldwyn
1 / PROJECT BACKGROUND
At first this project didn’t seem like a typical Studio Wild 15 opportunity. Three previous designs by three other very reputable practices had been submitted and rejected. Our track record of integrating positive sustainability into our designs was of little relevance. The brief was very loose and yet, taking all that into account, this project has turned out to be one of our design concepts that we are most proud of.
The brief was “design a garden”. Previous submissions had been seen as too predictable, lacking sufficient depth, originality and identity. We could have attempted to second guess what the client actually wanted - after all this client owned multiple properties of the highest value around the world. Instead we chose to stick to designing the garden according to the principles we’ve always believed in at Studio Wild 15, and to do that very simple but important early task - which was to know the client, ask him about his life, and how he wanted to use the space.
The result is by far the smallest project we’ve ever done, but it demonstrates that our vision and execution operates at any scale. It was a great opportunity to embrace the small-scale nature of the project and think about details in millimetres, whilst designing an entire bespoke technical package for this project.
2 / THE BRIEF
Our response was to deliver a design filled with depth, complexity and richness of experience. The result was the creation of a fascinating experiential space. One that was unswervingly modern and designed to create the sensation of other-worldliness.
In our conversations we discussed with the client what he wanted from the space - from a sensorial point of view, but also from a practical one too. This would be a place for entertaining guests, used predominantly at night.
I thought about what might excite and interest him and how I could create something utterly unique and original. He was uninterested in the obvious answer, which was to take design cues reflecting the region. He drew far more inspiration from the Californian modernist aesthetic, but wanted to add depth that the context of the location could enable. This was not mere Californian pastiche, but a concept born of its place.
"It's a real joy to move from the scale of a regional master plan, right down to a garden design; where every bead of grass matters."
3 / VISION – "REFLECTION"
I surveyed the vast sky, first in the bright blazing daytime, a light so intense that it sends everyone with a modicum of sanity scurrying for the nearest canopies offering the relief of shade. I then returned to survey again at night, the time when our client would most likely be present in the residence.
It became very clear to me that there was a stunning opportunity here - a blank canvas for the light to dance off, with the sky as the lighting rig. In daytime you could play with the small dappled spots of the sunlight here and there, at night time the gentler glow of moon and stars could work with surfaces to create an entirely different atmospheric light.
But the light is ultimately just a prop to use in a practical and thoughtful manner. I still wanted to find a conceptual theme that could underpin the core aesthetic and atmospheric theme of the garden.
As I thought about the materials we had in our gift to use, and the central role that the changes in light would play, it became very clear to me that we could create a stunning design built around the theme of “reflection”. It could be a place that used reflection in multiple memorable and inspired forms – a universal concept that would unlock an entirely unique space, one that could not exist anywhere else.
What we have designed is a concept that is spectacular in both modes. During the daytime, it is an aesthetic showcase, whether observed from the inside as a spectacular canvas, or under shade. Where perforated screens shield you from the sun, small shafts of light put together in a unique one of its kind in the world pattern are permitted through, creating stunning spots of light on the Galician granite stone.
But it is at night, when the vast sofas would be filled with guests, and the moonlight at its peak, that some dramatic features would emerge to their fullest glory.
These same perforated screens would be backlit, embracing the night sky. We used water, the most precious of commodities in these desert-like climates, to create an entertainment space with water on both sides, to give people a sense of being on a floating island itself, reinforced by the Galician stone slabs - lit to look like they’re defying gravity. Starlights embedded in the pool play with the backlit walls, whilst a spectacular overhead retractable canopy provides another canvas for the light to reflect off. We created all these tiny recessed lighting features that would create magical lines of light to follow with your eye. It is a night-time that has come to life using nature and the sky as its main characters.
Meanwhile, the centrepiece of the garden was a single sculpture, a spherical piece in this calm landscape designed by Lindy Lee, a Chinese Australian sculptor famed for her work creating beautiful pieces with illuminated metal. Again, at night its true essence would reveal itself. We created projections from inside the sculpture that could only work with this space.
On the planting side he wanted a very simple approach. Clipped green stuff, the opposite of flamboyant gardens found in luxury resorts and stately homes the world over. Spaces that overload the senses with volume and excess, the sort that would need 300 gardeners to maintain the intricacy of every flower bed and topiary arrangement. Our client was bored of that excess, and sought a calming simplicity. We chose to deliver on that side of the brief with just a few chosen sculptural plants such as baobabs and olive trees. What is noticeable about being selective, is that you notice and appreciate them more.
4 / THE TEAM
URBAN ARTS PROJECTS/LINDY LEE
Artist
We are frequent collaborators with Urban Arts Projects, art consultants who represent an exceptional range of sculptors and artists. Their Brisbane studio was founded in 1993 and now they have offices across the world, including China, USA and KSA. Their track record is incomparable, with notable collaborations with artists including Louis Bourgeois, Jeff Koons and Sarah Sze. The moment we started discussing the theme of projecting moonlight, and the desire for a dynamic and iridescent atmosphere, they immediately suggested Lindy Lee.
Lindy’s sculptures really appealed to me. Her practice explores her Chinese ancestry through Zen Buddhism and Taoism, both philosophies that see an essential link between humanity and nature. Her public works constantly reference the element of chance that captures that connection between human existence and the cosmos. They are thoughtful objects where meaning emerges from sustained contemplation. Her centrepiece spherical mirror sculpture is a perfect encapsulation of our quest for an iridescent, moonlight-themed environment, the light projecting from the inside of the sculpture co-exists wonderfully with the spectacular moonlight and night sky landscape that will be the backdrop of many spectacular nights of entertaining.
LITTLEMORE DESIGN
Design
Samena Singh and I worked together as colleagues for many many years. She was a senior designer at WATG and we must have collaborated on every continent, from spas in Doha to a retail destination in Spain. I love her forthright point of view and she is always very client-focused, her ideas are driven by understanding the needs of her clients rather than trying to project her personal narrative on the project. Her aesthetic is focused on high end luxury so she has maximalist tendencies, and is very strong on hospitality ideas, so she was absolutely perfect for this role. She took the time to sit with the clients for many hours, so she really understood what we needed to deliver for this family, how they lived, and existed and wanted to use the space.
JOHN CULLEN LIGHTING
Lighting Consultant
Light played such a critical part of this design, so I wanted to work with world-class lighting consultants John Cullen Lighting, who intuitively understood our ambition for light and art to meet. We had these amazing project spaces to work with and did an extraordinary level of analysis. They conducted a highly detailed analysis of light, right down to assessing how light plays through the foliage at different times of the day. I really wanted to find a way to successfully project the stunning big sky moonlight onto the garden so you see the silhouettes of the fronds of trees on the Galician granite. Typically in gardens you use electrical light from the bottom upwards, but we wanted to do the opposite, creating this moonlit garden which is utterly different, beautiful and remarkable.
STUDIO CGRECORD
CGI Illustration
The stunning illustrations created by Studio CGRecord take photo realism to a completely new level. They are experts in generating materials and lighting, boasting an incredible render farm that creates this amazing raytrace effect. This really captured the spectacular and detailed use of light and how it transformed each material it touched. They paid an extraordinary attention to detail, often creating 20 iterations of each view. On this project we sought to achieve levels of realism – with unprecedented levels of detail, from the fabric, to the fruit on the table and the shape of the baobab tree, to getting the depth of field absolutely spot on. Thanks to Studio CGRecord we achieved a level of exactitude on our design illustrations that is greater than any other project we’ve done previously.
5 / SUSTAINABILITY
One reason this project is among our proudest achievements is due to the successful adaptive re-use of the Galician stone. It is the only stone used on the project. It is one of the most sustainable materials to use anyway, but the transportation of it is highly carbon-intensive, so to be able to use materials that are already in the country is a huge carbon saving. This may not have been a critical requirement of the client’s brief, but it serves as an excellent example of positive sustainability. We have managed to achieve a huge environmental gain while creating a stunning design concept without aesthetic compromise.
The ability to minimise the environmental impact of transportation and extraction contributes to a significant reduction in the carbon impact of the entire project. This stone is by no means a second choice either. Unlike most sources of granite, Galician granite has a warmth, flexibility and resilience that I have never found elsewhere - it’s unique, and this granite is from a specific quarry that I know and trust called Granitos Carballido, located about 100kms east from Santiago de Compestela. It is a family owned business set up by Manuel and Joaquin Carballido, and it’s the only supplier I use to the point I have it in my own garden!
It’s quite common to use limestone with its warmer colours but its porous nature makes it unsuitable for pools. Galician granite’s ability to give us the best of both worlds meant that we were able to use it to make a beautiful ornamental pool embedded with multiple lights emerging from the starlight, but also use it for all the paving, where its lightness meant that it could change colour with the light. its flexibility was such that in this project we only have two hard materials. The way we treat them and the endlessly changing light is what brings out the different elements.
6 / PROJECT WRAP
This may be the smallest project that I’ve ever worked on, but it is undoubtedly one of the projects I’m most proud of. I believe that it’s a design concept that could only have come out of Studio Wild 15’s commitment to working with the best individuals and materials from around the world, all seeking to create the truly original. This project also serves as the most fantastic example of how a commitment to sustainability does not, as some fear, limit the imagination but truly feed it. Our opportunity to find an adaptive reuse of stunning pieces of Galician granite became the foundation around which all the elements and small details were built in. The result is the creation of a space that fulfilled the aspirations of a client with the ultimate benchmark in the luxury aesthetic and the expectation of the truly remarkable.