While this was not our clients’ first home or renovation, they approached the landscape with a clear understanding of how thoughtful design could add both immediate lifestyle value and long-term appeal.
From the outset, the brief balanced practicality with restraint. The primary functional requirement was to reinstate a previously removed rear lane access and parking space. While the clients did not intend to use the space for daily parking, they recognised its value — both as a flexible entertaining area in the present and as a strong asset for future owners.
At the same time, the garden needed to resolve a significant inherited issue. During heavy rain, water flowed from the rear lane into the yard, flooding a basement room that sat lower than the lane’s gutter invert. Correcting drainage and managing water became a critical driver of the design.
Working lightly within a complex context
The site benefits from a northerly aspect but is heavily shaded by the mature canopy of neighbouring Brush Box trees. These trees contribute greatly to the character and microclimate of the garden, creating cool, filtered shade, while also imposing constraints through tree protection zones that limited excavation, level changes and drainage solutions.
The property’s location within a heritage conservation area further shaped the project. While the rear yard allowed for a Complying Development approval pathway, the landscape needed to remain respectful — modern and refined, but not visually dominant or at odds with its surroundings.
The design brief called for a calm, contemporary courtyard that “sits lightly” within its context. Borrowed views from the church boundary wall, the weathered walls of the original home, neighbouring garages and the overhead tree canopy were all acknowledged as part of the composition rather than elements to be concealed.
Design outcomes: flexibility, value and calm
Early discussions explored the idea of a plunge pool to provide summer relief. However, following detailed site evaluation, fencing requirements and tree protection zones made even a small pool unviable. Instead, the design focused on spatial quality, drainage resolution and flexible outdoor use.
The reinstated parking bay was designed using recycled brick paving, allowing it to function seamlessly as an entertaining terrace. A relocated retaining wall, also constructed from recycled bricks, was carefully positioned to achieve compliant parking dimensions while doubling as an informal sitting wall. The discovery of original sandstone kerbing during works provided an unexpected opportunity, with pieces repurposed as a stone bench within the garden.
A cedar spa was integrated into the landscape as a more viable alternative to a pool. Its base is concealed by the continuation of the retaining wall and a spotted gum deck above, providing visual lightness, discreet access to services and a strong connection to the home’s elevated rear deck.
Movement through the space is guided by a series of overlapping circular architectural concrete steps that gently negotiate level changes. These forms soften the geometry of the courtyard while linking the lane, spa deck and upper garden via burnished concrete stepping stones.
Materiality, planting and atmosphere
Material selection was restrained and tactile, with architectural concrete, recycled brick, corten steel and timber forming a cohesive palette. Custom corten elements were used to create raised planters, herb beds and terraced edges, while also supporting climbing plants that soften the church boundary wall.
Planting was composed with particular attention to how the garden is experienced from above, as well as at ground level. Rich, textural foliage in varying tones and forms softens the harder landscape elements and responds to the shaded conditions beneath the tree canopy.
An integrated LED lighting scheme weaves through the landscape, highlighting architectural features, structural planting and circulation paths. By night, the garden transforms into a quiet, atmospheric courtyard defined by shadow, texture and gentle illumination.
A considered Inner West response
Delivered within a clearly defined budget through careful cost management and scope refinement, the Stanmore project demonstrates how thoughtful landscape design can unlock value, resolve complex site issues and create a space that feels both contemporary and deeply connected to its context.
The result is a flexible, calming courtyard — one that supports entertaining, everyday use and long-term appeal, while sitting comfortably within its heritage and Inner West setting.
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