030 _ _SEPT 2019
Landscape _Little Lane Studio _Camberwell, Australia _Pleysier Perkins and Matt Walsham Landscape Architecture
Previously underused,
the awkwardly sloped
yard now consists of
decks, steps and brick
retaining walls leading to
a new studio and carport.It isn’t every garden-design project that has a life-
sized elephant sculpture as its jumping-off point, but
that’s exactly the feature that Australian landscape
architect Matt Walsham was asked to consider when
he agreed to create a green roof for a backyard studio
and carport. The new structure, designed by Pleysier
Perkins for a sloping site behind a single-family home
in a suburb of Melbourne, was also entirely exposed,
meaning that the roof garden would require hardy, sun-
tolerant plantings and a way to irrigate them in extreme
weather conditions. The elephant, by artist Geoffrey
A BACKYARD REDESIGN IN AUSTRALIA
DOESN’T END AT GROUND LEVEL
WORDS _Danny Sinopoli
PHOTOGRAPHS _Michael Kai
Higher
Living
The two skylights’ white
tapered housings, made
of powder-coated steel,
direct light into specific
areas of the building
and yard.Ricardo, has yet to be installed, but all of the elements
(potential anchoring points, a sufficiently sturdy roof)
are in place for the day it does get its perch.
In the meantime, the garden as designed by
Walsham serves as a lush, low-maintenance capper
to the sixties-inspired studio and open-air garage.
To accommodate the plants, he worked closely with
the architects to integrate “the desired planting depths
into the engineering and design of the concrete roof-
top,” as well as drainage discharge points and provisions
for water access. To ensure that the rooms below
were entirely protected against water penetration, he
subsequently layered in a sheet of micron liner, a
plastic drainage cell sandwiched between two sheets
of A24 geofabric and, finally, a plant substrate, for
a total depth of 130 millimetres. Irrigation is carefully
controlled through a timed dripper system.
Lastly, Walsham developed the plant palette, a mix
of creepers and crawlers, hardy meadow species and
other Australian natives. In time, many are projected to
cascade over the structure’s sides, softening its edges,
filling a few voids – and providing an appropriately
jungle-like setting for that prized pachyderm.
mattwalsham.com.au, pleysierperkins.com.auThe carport’s grassy
surface, dotted with
circular pavers, doubles
as a fun zone, ideal for
games of table tennis or
kicking a ball around.Vigorous climbers such
as Parthenocissus
henryana were incor-
porated so they could
tumble over the new
structure’s sides and
into the void atop
the carport.Intended to evoke a
wild meadow, the roof-
top plantings not only
soften the structure’s
hard edges, but also
replace the greenery
supplanted by its
construction.