Inside out

This timber pavilion - a modest addition, but so effective - has brought a new experience of outdoor living to a family home.

Airy: the pavilion. Picture: Andy Macpherson

The creation of a timber pavilion at this Brisbane property has brought a new experience of outdoor living to a much-loved family home.

Having raised a family, the owners wanted an update to include an outdoor deck that afforded privacy from an over-scale development across the road. Architect Matt Kennedy of Arcke conceived the idea of a pavilion instead of a conventional extension, taking a holistic approach that integrates buildings and landscape, achieved on a modest budget.

“The siting of the pavilion is at the heart of the design,” says Kennedy. “The garden was extremely important to the client and that became the focus, so it’s all about how things delicately connect and how the structure now defines the garden in the centre, like the embracing crook of an arm.” Crafted from recycled hardwoods, the airy pavilion includes built-in seating plus an indoor room that could be used as an art studio, guest room or kids’ hang-out.

The pavilion was positioned away from the house to maximise sun, breezes and distant vistas, while screening out unwanted views. “You can look through the pavilion rather than it being a solid structure,” Kennedy explains. “This ensures it engages with the garden and doesn’t overwhelm it.” He collaborated closely with landscape architect Sidonie Carpenter of Green Canopy Design, who shares his philosophies. “It was very important to consider the garden from inside the house looking out,” she says.

To add visual interest to the ground plane, Carpenter mounded up some of the beds. “This worked well because both buildings are raised off the ground, so you step down into the garden,” she says. The resulting verdant space has the feeling of a private sanctuary.

Existing frangipani trees were kept where possible. ‘Darwin Red’ and ‘Singapore White’ are favourites. Other plants are textural and low maintenance, including shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet), elephant ear (Alocasia macrorrhiza), tractor seat plant (Ligularia reniformis), giant bromeliad (Alcantarea) and various succulents. Carissa ‘Desert Star’ adds fragrance, while the shady section between a bedroom and the pavilion features tree ferns (Cyathea cooperi) and silver lady fern (Blechnum ‘Silver Lady’). Native violet softens around the stepping stone paths. The project, completed last year, was shortlisted in the Queensland Architecture Awards.

Q&A

Is the thing about urinating on lemon trees to feed them a myth? What other plants might benefit from this practice? Adam, Melbourne

Urine is an excellent fertiliser because it contains nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus – the main ingredients of fertilisers – in a form ready for plant roots to take up. It’s an age-old practice, and confirmed in modern-day trials. Unlike faeces, urine (from healthy people, at least) poses few health risks. Don’t overdo it on small trees, though, because too much can burn the roots. Ideally you should water it in, which also reduces the smell, or dilute it for smaller plants and pot plants.

Is there a native lawn or groundcover that brush turkeys cannot dig up? Helen Marriner, Sydney

Brush turkeys have powerful talons to rake whatever they want – which sometimes includes small plants – into their nesting mounds. Peg chicken wire flat on the ground or use rock mulch around plants. Long prunings such as palm fronds and bamboo canes also interfere with their scratching. Brush turkeys prefer part shade but the best native lawn turf, Zoysia ‘Nara’, needs mostly sun. It should be resilient once well established.

Dream Gardens

Send your questions to: [e-mail] or Helen Young, PO Box 3098, Willoughby North, NSW 2068. The best question for November wins two copies of Dream Gardens by Michael McCoy (Hardie Grant, $70 each).