Realm Studios
EAST AND CO. LANDSCAPE DESIGNER
Questions and Answers
Where do you start when planning your landscaping?
Our process is thorough, for good reason. A site visit, context analysis, detailed review of the brief and project requirements, together with client and any stakeholder inputs are required before getting into design. Getting the details right from the start is everything.
Why is customisation of landscaping important for buyers? How have you applied this to your landscape designs?
No site is the same; no brief is the same; no vision is the same. This means our responses are always unique and custom to where and who our buyer is.
Sustainability and functionality are both crucial in modern landscape architecture. How have you ensured both are achieved simultaneously?
They are not mutually exclusive – there are always solutions that can be found that provide good outcomes for both. At East and Co., functionality is based more on a spatial context and sustainability and materials context.
What innovative techniques have you applied to ensure your landscaping is truly unique and contemporary?
We are not using any raised kerbs and instead direct storm water to ‘passively irrigate’ garden beds and tree wells. This increases infiltration at source, provides improved water quality and helps increase tree canopy and rigor. It also maintains soil moisture, which minimises irrigation demand and creates cooler environments. To support this, we are also using permeable paving and structural soils under pavements, as well as adjacent tree plantings to ensure adequate space for root development without cracking and lifting pavements. We have also maximised tree planting across the project to shade the hard pavement surfaces and selected local plant and tree species to support local biodiversity and habitat.
How much is the nature of the local area incorporated into your landscape design thinking?
We will specify endemic species where possible, specifically those found in the bush block next door, with most of the planting palette drawn from West Australian plants.
East and Co. is a true collaboration between top architects and designers. How do you think the product has been elevated as a result?
Good design is always the result of collaboration. For the external landscape this has been a close collaboration between ourselves as landscape architects with the lead architect, civil engineer and of course the developer. When a clear and innovative vision is established by each of the experienced and talented designers for their component of the project then, and only then, the project as a whole becomes elevated as excellent.
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