Draft article — to be reviewed by the studio before publication.
The role of landscape in architecture
Landscape is not what happens to the space left over after the building. Designed together from the first day, the garden, the trees and the ground can do half the architecture's work.
Keep what is worth keeping
A mature tree takes decades to replace. Where a site has one, we survey it before placing the house and often plan around it, as in our Lahore residence, where every main room looks into the canopy of a eucalyptus that was there long before the brief.
Shade and microclimate
Planting, water and hard surfaces change the temperature around a building. A shaded courtyard with planting can be noticeably cooler than an open paved yard on a summer afternoon. Placing trees on the west and south-west, and keeping hard paving to a minimum near glazing, reduces the heat a house has to deal with.
Outdoor rooms
In a climate where much of the year is pleasant outside, terraces, verandahs and courtyards are as important as any room. We give them the same attention: orientation, enclosure, floor finish, lighting and a clear connection to the rooms they serve.
The best gardens make the house feel larger and the street feel further away.
Plant for the place
Native and climate-adapted species need less water and care, and they look right in their setting. We plan irrigation, drainage and maintenance alongside the planting, because a landscape that cannot be looked after will not last.
