At least that's what we thought! About a month into construction with forming and foundations well underway and the basement level starting to take shape, suddenly we realized we needed to make a few hasty decisions regarding location and height of deck posts, retaining walls, etc. Pretty quickly our contractor, architect and ourselves realized none of us were really qualified to make the call on these key landscaping decisions! A few calls by the architect led us to Ken McKillop, partner at Durante Kruek - check out their stuff... very cool! If you are familiar with the award-winning Vancouver 2010 Olympic Athletes Village, BC Hydro Dunsmuir and AMEC landscaping, Coal Harbour/Bayshore waterfront, City of Vancouver/Canada Line landscaping, and our famous Dr. Sun Yat-Sen gardens, then you've seen their work.
Ken swung by and quickly got excited about our project! His recommendations fit well with our sustainability and contemporary design goals, and set about developing some detailed landscape drawings, with lighting and irrigation plans as well. Lesson learnt... don't try and save any pennies by leaving landscaping until the end. And leave the design aspect to the professionals - it's money well spent! Here's the before shot - the only thing that is growing is the kids and the weeds... stay tuned for the 'after'!
October 29 and the exterior landscaping is now really starting to get moving. The site is being excavated for a terraced set of planters down the front of the patio to create a natural flowing transition to the driveway.
Nov 21 - Planter forms in front of patio ready for concrete pour (once the weather warms back up a little!).
April 10, 2011 - the house is largely complete inside, so now attention turns to the outside. Good progress after a week.
