5.5 Terrace House Rear

For this major project, you will prepare a design for a client who owns a terrace house located in inner city Melbourne, Australia. A design is required for the north facing rear of the owner's two story terrace house. The figure below shows the front of the building. Houses like this are typical of affluent areas close to the Melbourne CBD.

Your design and documentation for the rear space is to be presented using CAD software; we suggest that you use GardenCAD although if you are familiar with AutoCAD or IntelliCAD and want to use either of those software tools, we can accept files in the AutoCAD or IntelliCAD dwg format. Note that GardenCAD is Windows software, but it does run (happily) on Intel based Macs using a tool called Crossover (see GardenCAD's web site for details).

Focus

The focus in this project is on making sure that you work through all the stages required to manage a real landscape job. Not only will you be assessed on your ability to use CAD software, you will also be judged on your ability to communicate your ideas to your client throughout the various execution stages for the whole job.

Software

  By this stage of your Diploma, you should be fluent in the use of the CAD software of your choice.

[If you do wish to use either IntelliCAD or AutoCAD to complete the project instead of GardenCAD, please contact us in advance and we will arrange for you to take some online courses in the use of those software tools on a companion site - http://www.landscapetutor.net].

The site

The site (the rear garden area behind the terrace house shown above) measures 7.00 meters wide by 17.20 meters deep and has an even slope from the house to the back of the block (200 mm fall between the back of the house and the rear fence). North is to the back of the site away from the house. The site is quite well protected from prevailing winds due to the 'row' nature of terrace housing. The client has expressed a view that screening from neigbours on each side would be advantageous.

An example of an acceptable design for the space

GardenCAD was used to build the design shown below. This is one of several views from the GardenCAD Page Layout menu used by this particular designer. Note the inclusion of some images of plant species which the designer intends will be used in the design. These photos have been edited using the IrfanView image editing software tool and are of a size appropriate for inclusion in a CAD drawing (see http://www.gardencad.net/plantsel). Your task is to present several views from the Pages Menu documenting the complete design - either A1, A2 or A3 sheets can be used.

The brief

After a site visit and discussions with the client, it was agreed that the following would be included in the design:

• A water feature
• An adult entertaining area
• Some type of garden sculpture
• Treatment for the rather tired boundary fences
• Lighting
• Underground tank for water storage and the installation of an automatic sub-surface irrigation system incorporating some permaculture features
• A design for some art work to hang on one of the boundary fences
• Species list and photographs of species to be used. Images max width 10 cm, 150 dpi resolution.
• A detail showing how to plant and advanced specimen tree
• Sketch showing 3-D view of the proposed design - single point perspective.

[We will imagine that the budget is unlimited.]

We showed this client some typical 2-D landscape plans. This particular client had difficulty reading 2-D plans so we decided that a single point 2-D perspective showing our concept would be required. The figures below shows two attempts at a hand sketch. These were drawn after we had prepared a site analysis diagram and a site concept before starting detailed CAD drawing. Note that one view point is taken near the house and one from the rear of the garden.

 

You might aim to present all or some of the following page views:

• Step 1 - a site analysis (bubble diagram) plan

Prepare a diagram similar to that show below (which is for a different site - one in the northern hemisphere. This diagram is for your use only and would not be shown to the client along the lines of the site opportunity plan shown below.

Unfortunately, you cannot visit the Melbourne terrace house and your site analysis diagram will be limited in the information is contains. The figure below shown one example of a site analysis diagram for this particular site.

 It is a good idea to use colour coding for similar microclimatic areas. If you make a 'standard' block of colour coded blobs, these can easily be manoevered and scaled at will.

 

Step 2 - a site concept diagram

 

Next we build a concept diagram on top of the site analysis diagram (the concept is shown mostly in white in the figure below).

Because we have used layers, it is simple matter to turn off the site analysis layer and reduce the clutter in the drawing. We now have a broad idea of how we will treat the space.

At this point, save a couple of copies of this CAD file under different names - use one for the story board (which follows), one for a backup and one for your detailed design. One of these copies might show the concept to the above the actual (detail) model that you are working on to the left. Note that in the figure below, we are trying out a completely different design solution fom the concept.

 

 

Step 3 - Pick a suitable vantage point and construct a single point perspective drawing of your proposed design

Remembering that this client has great difficulty reading 2-D plans, we decide to generate a hand drawn perspective to give him some broad idea of what we have in mind. This is not a detailed design - we simply want to do enough to win the job! The first figure below shows an early stage in the generation of the hand drawn perspective. We have not yet placed the fence lines nor any plant indicators. The second sketch shows (not for this site) a more developed sketch.

 

Step 3- a hand drawn concept sketch and plant story board similar to that shown below.

Next we use our CAD software (GardenCAD) and its ability to insert raster (photographic) images into a drawing to communicate our broad design ideas to the client before proceeding to a detailed design. You might call this a story board proposal. the hand drawn perspective takes pride of place on the sheet. Prominent labels link the photos to the hand drawn plants.

Submission - stage 1:

Print a PDF file of:

• Your site analysis drawing
• Your site design concept and
• The page plotted from gardenCAD showing the hand drawn sketch together with some photographs of plant species suited to the site. ~ choose plants to suit can suit your local environs, not necessarily Melbourne's.

Email your submissions to info @gardencad.net

Then, we will assume that you will win the job, so next we require a series of sheets detailing the actual design.

• Overall detail plan(s)

A sample A1 sheet (from a series of sheets in a student submission) is shown below. Note the inclusion of a border, title block and designer's logo. A concept sketch as a guide for an artist to complete a commission for some sculpture is also included.

You will need to present several sheets to properly illustrate your design concepts. You need to become aware of the various sheet sizes available for presenting designs. A1 sheets are 841 mm wide by 541 mm high in landscape orientation, A2 is one half A1 9turned sideways) A3 sheets are approx 420 mm by 380 mm and so on. We recommend A1 sheets as a standrd and then print onto A3 if required for operational reasons.

 

[For this project, use a sheet size which is most economical for you - many copy centers can print colour A3 very cheaply; increasing the paper size to A1 adds considerably to the cost.]

Enough information must be included in the title block area to satisfy all users of the design, the client, municpal authortities, landscape construction teams, irrigation and lighting designers etc.

When referring to scale in the title block, we prefer you to say SCALE: 1:50@A1 or SCALE: 1:100@A3, so there can be no confusion if someone prints (photocopies) the design onto another size sheet.

The inclusion of a scale bar also helps overcomes that risk. Remember that the scale bar is placed in model space, not inserted into a page view. The figure below shows a scale bar. The bar is placed into model space while the drawing attributes and text (0-5m) are placed in presentation (pages) space.

• Water feature

Your client has requested some type of water feature. The figure below shows a design where a water runs through the site as the main design element - a water rill. Design by Michelle P.

• Irrigation plan

The figure below shows an example of an irrigation design together with a series of circles indicating planting locations for the construction team. Note the logo and illustrative photos of irrigation hardware. (Design by DB).

• Wall (fence) treatment

Prepare a design for some art work to hang on the wall/fence near the outdoor entertaining area. The figure below shows one example.

In this case, the CAD drawing file was sent to a laser cutter who machined the shapes from mild steel directly from the CAD drawing. A backing plate (painted red and green in appropriate places) was then applied to the reverse of the sheet which was then sliced into three panels. The three panels were mounted on the side boundary separated by 600 mm.

This technique can be used in a more sophisticated way. The figure below shows another design for a similar wall feature/panel. A pattern for a leaf has been machined from a piece of steel, lifted out and mounted external to the sheet. Low voltage lighting was installed in the box creating an attractive light spill effect at night.

• Adult entertaining space

We are sure that each of you will place the adult entertaining area differently. In the example shown below, the designer has placed the entertaining area at the bottom of the garden. A free-flowing boardwalk over a wetland garden is proposed. The adult entertaining space is formed by raised decking at the northern end of the garden. Design by TaraD.

• Sculpture

The design calls for some commissioned artwork. Building contacts with local galleries helps gain access to artists. If you have time, visit a local artist's studio and photograph some of their works. As an alternative, photograph some sculptures in public places near you. These are (of necessity) mostly large scale - consider the difficulty of bringing something similar down to the scale of a private garden.

Here is a link to some more examples of sculptures: http://www.diploma.gardencad.net/node/124

Detail of underground tank and irrigation

The design shown below suggests the installation of a tank below a decked area. An immersion pump will pump reclaimed water and storm water to the the whole garden. You may think about the possibility of feeding the water into a small wetland for further water polishing.

[A very good reference on this topic is a book by Michael Mobbs - Sustainable House. Published by Choice Books  ISBN 978 0947277 482]

• How to plant an advanced tree

Many designs call for planting advanced trees into the space. Your landscape contractor will benefit from a set of clear instructions on how this (expensive) specimen tree is to be planted. Produce a separate drawing similar to that shown below. Make sure that you know how to store a drawing such as this in your block library and have acquired the skills necessary to bring the illustration into any future drawing. The whole point of using Computer Aided Design is that you only draw illustrations such as this once.

 Even though GardenCAD has a block similar to this in its in-built library, we want you to create one of your own.

Staked Eucalypt with Eremophila spp and Hardenbergia spp understory planting.

 

Your design philosophy

Write a brief description of your design philosophy. Here is one for a different site by Mary Murray, an English garden designer and is taken from her web site.

"The low-maintenance design ...provides an entertaining/dining area close to the house with glimpses through to the rest of the garden. Storage is incorporated to maximise the use of space. Pleached hedging affords enhanced privacy without encroaching on the limited breadth of the garden. A long reflective pool leads to a cosy retreat concealed by a 2 metre semi-transparent water feature which also provides the subtle sound of trickling water. The raised deck is positioned to capture the afternoon / evening sunshine. Planting is chosen to provide semi-transparent screening, height variation for visual interest, and to create a subtle romantic mood."

 

Lighting design

You will create a three dimensional view of this garden in a later project using SketchUp. It is possible to install 'plug-ins' to SketchUp to enable the position of both spot and flood lights. You may well choose to leave the final implementation of a lighting plan for thhis project until you have reached that stage.

Submissions - stage 2

Please submit your project [minus the analysis and concept data which were submitted earlier] in the usual way (to info@gardencad.net), remembering to use the Pages Tool to present the design on a number of sheets.

 If you have difficult emailing the complete drawing due to size limitations, please print each sheet as a separate pdf file and (remembering to include your name to the body of the email). This is a problem that you may well face with clients and it's a good time to learn how to overcome it at this juncture.

 

 

Urrbrae students 2010

We require at least one A3 print in colour as well as the electronic versions of your project. Your assignemnts will be graded [by KW and DB] accourding to the following scheme: Distinction, Credit, Pass Level 1, Pass Level 2, Borderline, Not acceptable. Remember that you are being assessed not on your design skills, but on your ability to use CAD to present and communicate ideas.

Review

This project has required quite a high level of CAD skill. If you can do this, you are well on the way to being able to use CAD (GardenCAD) commercially in your own work. We welcome your feedback about your experiences in dealing with this project.

---

 

Appendix

The figures below show some examples of design solutions proposed by different students. These may help you get your own creative juices flowing.

Soem other examples of designs for this space

1. Design (by Deb F) featuring a broad gravel walkway mimicing the traditional garden treatment of paths in this 1880's building

2. Our first effort.

Prerequisites:

As you know from earlier projects, we always ask you to complete some preliminary work each time before you start a new project. Before attempting this particular project, you should have visited the learning support site [http://www.gardencad.net/online] and taken the course(s) appropriate for this project.  The main module (4.5 ..) provides a very detailed description of how we developed our design for the site. The module includes at least 6 step-by-step movies so it is well worth visiting. Other support is also included on the learning site. Modules that you may need to revise before starting the project include:

• Photography of plants in the landscape
• Image editing with IrfanView
• Collecting descriptive information and photographs about 5 plant species ready for inclusion in an online plant database.
  
•  Using Microsoft Excel
  
• Using GardenCAD