Structured chaos: Towers Road Residence Gardens

From the landscape architect: The Towers Road garden fosters a ‘sense of embrace’ — a poetic garden of ‘structured chaos.’ This has emerged via a collaborative journey with the architect and client.

The relationship with client and architect opened up possibilities of what a garden could become. It also allowed TCL to revel in composing, layering and patterning plants and other garden materials to create a sensory, aesthetic and immersive environment – one that is enhanced with ongoing care and cultivation.

Like many of TCL’s gardens, the Towers Road Residence in Toorak, designed by architects Woods Marsh, employs an understanding of cultural and environmental history, garden design principles and horticultural practice. Inspired by natural processes, it exhibits a tension between order, juxtaposed with fluidity and randomness – an interplay of strong form and diversity.

Towers Road Residence by TCL.

Towers Road Residence by TCL.

Image: John Gollings

The garden respected the sculptural architecture whilst creating a garden of lush and luxury escape. The verdant, diverse and textured forms of the garden provide a contrast to the muscular architecture of the building. The white painterly bark and delicate foliage of silver birches at the property’s Towers Road frontage act as a foil against the monumental raw concrete facade and provide filtered views through to the building. As the morning sun rises, a dappled light is cast across the concrete canvas.

Towers Road Residence by TCL.

Towers Road Residence by TCL.

Image: John Gollings

The interior of the house frames views of the central lawn, cabana, pool and extensive garden, beneath the canopy of an established plane tree. The rear garden is a rich and layered composition of seasonal evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, perennials and ground covers. The garden is navigated through arbours, stepping stones and secret pathways.

Towers Road Residence by TCL.

Towers Road Residence by TCL.

Image: John Gollings

Along the south side of the house a lush circular fernery is nestled between the building walls. An array of layered plantings and a scattering of granite plinths create an exotic atmosphere.

The success of the garden lies in the richness of plant form and function. Each moment is curated, and there is the sense of garden expanding beyond the limited bounds of the site. There are moments for play, relaxation and entertainment.

Taylor Cullity Lethlean.

Credits

Project
Towers Road garden
Landscape architect
TCL
Australia
Project Team
Kate Cullity, Lisa Howard, Rui Seguchi
Architect
Wood/Marsh Architecture
Melbourne, Vic, Australia
Site Details
Location Melbourne,  Vic,  Australia
Site type Suburban
Project Details
Status Built
Completion date 2016
Category Landscape / urban
Type Outdoor / gardens
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