Our world is rushing as we confront the global pandemic and begin to believe in life beyond. One of those adjustments is in our re-evaluation of nature: staying indoors for weeks increases our appreciation and preference for safe and stimulating outdoor spaces.
Matt Coggan, director of Turf Design Studio and head of landscape architecture at Denvell Group in Babylon, is renewed in the services of his company.
“I think COVID-19 has a particularly higher activity in our industry,” he says. “And new trends are emerging that will replace the way we think about spaces in multi-residence developments.”
A key trend that Coggan believes buyers will look for in the long run is comfort at the door.
“The price of having an open area right on your door was, namely the closing restrictions,” he explains. “When others were discouraged to travel beyond their local area, it actually highlighted regions that lacked quality open regions.”
At Bathroughlon, Turf Design Studio’s vision of providing lush oasis encouraged through the history and world of herbs, as well as its inspiration, the hanging gardens of Bathroughlon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Our world is rushing as we confront the global pandemic and begin to believe in life beyond. One of those adjustments is in our re-evaluation of nature: staying indoors for weeks increases our appreciation and preference for safe and stimulating outdoor spaces.
All the features we see lately in a classic suburban garden or public park are now essential elements of today’s multi-residence developments. Private gardens, housework, parental retreats, landscapes to play (including water games), outdoor kitchens, orchards and puppy training amenities are the new norm in landscape architecture.
“All the large-scale mixed-use and residential projects I’m running lately are exploring those issues and are running to address them in a way that meets today’s wishes, while still being adaptable enough to the unforeseen long-term changes.
“We designed Babylon to provide other individuals and families with a ‘rewarding living experience’, the kind of lifestyle you would expect from a classic home in an established suburb,” Coggan says. “The lush tropical landscape will have cascading plants of walls and facades, as well as its namesake, with running water, stone textures and works of art.
For residents, a number of lush personal courtyards along the northern boundaries feature unparalleled outdoor amenities and passive recreational opportunities as a setting for their indoor spaces. Designed as quiet personal shrines, they will feature hard and padded landscape elements, with special attention to incorporating furniture and constant seating into the walls of the gardener, and stalls to raise loose furniture according to the lifestyle of the residents.
“The courtyard gardens will only be landscaped green spaces to see from inside the residents’ houses, but also spaces for gardening and rest,” says Coggan.
“The great developers have understood the immense price of the public domain and the landscape and try to create them in spaces with limited access to open spaces, either on the site or as a contribution of the City Council to public lands. It’s a win/win: it increases the price of homes in progression and improves amenities for the community.”
Another key emerging focus for the design of multiple residences is the creation of state-of-the-art spaces for pets, especially dogs.
“Landscape architects will have to be careful now not that vital circle of family members in the design process. I see spaces with open circuits and increasingly sought-after training lawns,” he explains.
“Community landscapes are the new ‘backyard’ of multi-residential developments, says Coggan.” They want to provide connection and flexibility with a microclimate that maximizes their success, adding access to the sun, wind, weather protection, etc.
“Because if there’s one thing the pandemic has taught us, it’s to prepare for the unexpected,” he says.
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