OUTDOOR FUN: Retirement lifestyle at Lauriston Park, Cambridge includes sound landscape architecture principles. AT WORK: Award winning landscape architect Lee Brazier. CHOOSING to leave traditional homes and backyards, or even large dairy farms, and move into a village is a lifestyle option many baby boomers are jumping into. This generation is active, healthy and often living life to the max — seeking minimal household hassles.
Retirement complexes are springing up everywhere, providing senior go-getters with secure sanctuaries. The compact villages can be entertainment centres or lock-up-and-leave abodes that take care of themselves while the occupants are enjoying adventurous travels.
Finding a balance between community living and privacy is a tricky business but judging by the popularity of the impressive retirement complexes, plenty of Kiwis are discovering the joy of a new style of home. Like any suburban street, neighbours have little inclination of the goings on behind closed doors but the great outdoors can be a little more revealing.
Planning a shared environment in and around a retirement village is a challenge requiring expertise and good consultation. Juggling the needs of an avid vegetable gardener with a rose lover must be taken into consideration.
Cockle Bay landscape architect Lee Brazier won the contract to design the scenic grounds around Lauriston Park Retirement Village in Cambridge.
“Lauriston Park is not a care facility — it’s a residential village offering an easier lifestyle,” says Lee. “In the Waikato region there are a lot of retired farmers and people who have come from different career pathways, not just corporate people.”
Cambridge is a boutique country town, and the climate can range from winter frosts to long hot summers. When designing Lauriston Park’s communal garden, Lee used a different planting style from that commonly seen in public or commercial places, which is a typically low-maintenance plant range.
“In communal gardens it’s more about flowers and seasons — more of that home-garden planting palette and using it in a bigger sense. It includes creating a variety of spaces, so you have areas for group gatherings and individual contemplation, and we tried to combine those areas.”
Buildings step down over various levels and what people look down on is just as important as the space they are in.
“Two main areas have been developed so far. One is a woodland garden under some big existing trees and the second is a communal garden around the village centre.
“That is where people tend to disperse from the main building where they get together for group activities. The gardens support the architecture, and how you view out of the building and how you view in.”
Lee worked with the lead architect BSW and T+ architects, planning the outdoor spaces around community buildings as well as individual villas. The two areas had quite different aesthetics, uses and requirements and numerous designers and engineers were involved in bringing every element together.
Hard landscaping had to allow clear access routes for mobility scooters, with 1:12 to 1:20 gradients and surfaces had to be slip resistant.
Colour was important to help visually impaired residents identify edges of steps and paths and lighting was included for security and safety.
More often than not, sustainability is now a given in any construction project and Lee’s design was no exception.
“It’s about material selection, making sure timber comes from sustainable sources and asking — are we using local resources wherever possible? It’s the way we construct things around existing resources like amazing old trees and how we protect those.”
Lee worked with arborists and considered every detail, such as capturing the sediment run-off when building new pathways, to minimise any impact on the ancient and valuable beauties.
“The trees had been in a rural setting for years with natural precipitation. If we came in and did a development underneath, what effect was that going to have? It’s a fine balance.”
An extensive gardening team maintains the grounds to the standard a homeowner would be proud of. Caring for communal areas, streetscapes and people’s personal gardens is a huge undertaking, as is lawn mowing when there are thousands of acorns dropping on the green carpets.
Some residents want room to grow their own vegetables or favourite ornamental plants, and Lee says incorporating this desire was a real challenge. Street frontages are generally planted uniformly and the backyards are more individual. However, some residents have made their individual impression on the rear garden within a week of it being planted.
“With individual gardens people often have a strong idea of what they want or they don’t mind letting you make all of the plant selections,” says Lee. “In this generation the guys are often the vegetable gardeners and they have amazing skills and techniques. You can learn a lot from talking to older people.”
The client Neil Group was committed to the project and saw the landscape as a strong driver to the success of the development. Lee thinks commercial developers recognise the value of landscape, which is reflected at a residential level.
“Some of the most landmark developments have high-quality landscapes. The big spend was always on architecture and now it is a combination between the two. In the past the landscape architect would come in right at the end and dress up what was left over. Now we influence where a building sits, the position, its rotation, its level and its interface — how we can work with each other.”
Long-term vision creates a landscape that works well in five years time and well into the future. The investment in an expert reduces the expense of fixing up costly mistakes in the years to come.
“In New Zealand landscape architecture is still quite young, whereas in the States and UK it’s a very established profession. We’re still gaining a foothold here.”
With increased population density and restricted urban sprawl the role of quality landscape architecture is increasingly important in New Zealand. It is essential for the well-being of future communities that outdoor spaces are inviting to urban dwellers, whether they are retired or looking for an escape from hectic daily life.
Undoubtedly, landscape architects should have a lead role in the production of our communal playgrounds.
