Garden as Shared Ground

Designed for a mother and her daughter's family, this garden supports a way of living that holds independence and togetherness in balance. Two homes, connected by a central wellness space, give each family the privacy of its own front door while allowing daily life to unfold side by side.

The house wraps around a central courtyard that becomes the true heart of the home. A place to gather around the fire pit on cool evenings, share meals beneath a mature Banksia, watch children play, or simply sit outside together. At its centre sits a dedicated recovery zone built for contrast therapy: a built-in sauna, cold plunge and jacuzzi, designed for everyday use rather than occasional indulgence.

The site's ecology shaped the garden as much as its owners did. This stretch of Burleigh Heads is home to a local koala population, so the planting scheme was designed around their needs from the outset. Eucalypts form the backbone of the rear garden, underplanted with a considered mix of locally native species chosen to provide food, shelter and habitat.

The result is a garden built for two kinds of coexistence at once. Between generations of one family, and between that family and the landscape they now share with the wildlife already living there.