Garden as Shared Ground
Client
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Service
Duration
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The Brief
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01
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This project began with a very specific family need: two generations wanted to live closely, without feeling as though they were living on top of one another. The garden therefore had to do more than look beautiful. It needed to create a clear sense of independence for each household while also making shared time feel natural and easy.
The aim was to design a landscape that could support everyday family life. Meals together, children playing, moments of rest and wellness all without sacrificing privacy or a sense of individual space.
The Challenge
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Multi-generational living can quickly feel compromised if privacy, circulation and shared space are not resolved carefully from the beginning. Too much openness can make both households feel exposed. Too much separation can make the property feel fragmented.
At the same time, the site itself brought another layer of responsibility. Local koalas move through this part of Burleigh Heads, so the planting needed to respond not only to the family’s needs, but also to the ecology already present. The design therefore had to balance privacy, connection, daily use and habitat without allowing any one requirement to dominate the others.
The Approach
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The landscape was organised around a central courtyard that acts as the shared heart of the property. This created a natural place for the family to come together without compromising the independence of each home.
Rather than designing the courtyard around a single use, it was planned to support the way daily life actually changes: long meals beneath a mature Banksia, children playing nearby, evenings around the fire pit, or simply stepping outside for a quiet moment.
A dedicated wellness zone with a sauna, cold plunge and jacuzzi was integrated into the same composition so it felt like part of the garden rather than an added feature. Privacy was created through planting, positioning and spatial relationships instead of relying only on hard boundaries.
The planting strategy was also developed around the site’s ecological context. Eucalypts form the structural backbone of the garden, supported by locally native species selected to provide food, shelter and habitat for wildlife while maintaining the soft, naturalistic character of the landscape.
The Result
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The result is a garden that allows two households to live closely without feeling as though they are giving up privacy or independence. Shared spaces feel generous and natural rather than forced. Private moments still feel protected. Entertaining, wellness, play and retreat all sit comfortably within the same landscape.
Every element has a reason to be there, and the planting helps the property feel grounded in Burleigh Heads rather than imposed upon it. The result is a garden built for two forms of coexistence: between generations of one family, and between that family and the living landscape around them.