Wednesday, August 17, 2011

DIY SOS: The Big Build - Dartford

Creating a special garden for a very special family

Background:

The BBC approached me back in February asking if I would like to be involved in an episode of DIY SOS and design a sensory garden for a small family made up of Mum Louise and her 10 year old son Thomas who has autism. Dead lines were tight and budgets were even tighter but the challenge was very appealing so I agreed to get involved.

Design brief:

I met with Louise and Thomas to get to know them and to establish a client brief and I spent time in the garden to measure up and to carefully consider the potential as well as the limitations of the garden. The garden was approximately 230 metre square, with neighbouring gardens on each side and backing on to the M25 Dartford crossing. The constant noise of traffic was very apparent. The garden included a beautiful mature birch tree and a handful of mature shrubs to work with. Everything else was in very poor condition and needed to come out. Paving slabs could be recycled to cut costs and there were railway sleepers as well as large pebbles and garden ornaments which could be incorporated into the new design. Thomas also had a wide range of collected items such as traffic cones and road signs arranged in his part of the garden, which would be saved and become part of the new design. What was important for the new garden was that Thomas had a clearly defined space in the garden that was his, a space where he felt safe and could be used as a time out space, and that also Louise had a space for more grown up activities. When asked how they would like to feel in the garden Louise said she wants to feel relaxed whilst Thomas said he wants to have fun.

Design statement:

I started by allocating space to create two separate areas in the garden; one for Thomas and one for Louise. Thomas's space lent itself to be further away from the building, close to the natural elements in the garden, such as the mature birch tree, whilst Louise's space was better suited to be nearer to the house with easy access for outdoor dining. The two spaces then needed to be linked by a hard surface material to allow Thomas to comfortably reach his area of the garden all through the year, bare feet if he wished!

Sources of inspiration and ideas

Inspired by the road and working with a traffic theme, I created a straight boardwalk lined with small LED lights to create what appeared to be a run way, allowing Thomas to take off and land in his own very special place. I worked on the diagonal, with a 30 degree angle to maximise the space and to create a straight visual line from the house down to Thomas's shed. The shed was important to be big enough to allow Thomas to grow as well as store the many things he collects. Knowing that Thomas loves portacabins and similar industrial looking items I was on the look out for a shed with a large port hole window. A barrier was needed between the two areas, however, I wanted to make sure that Thomas did not feel trapped by the barrier so we lined the fence with a green barked dog wood hedge, Cornus stolonifera Flaviramea. This hedge will eventually merge with the fence and in the winter will display very attractive bright green upright stems.

Initially I incorporated into the design a wealth of opportunities for physical activity by including a traverse climbing wall, balancing blocks and a sunken trampoline. However, due to budget restrictions some of these had to be omitted. Interactive features are important to include in a sensory garden so I incorporated some loose items that Thomas could move, stack and arrange as he wished. I found out that Thomas loves traffic lights so we worked hard to source working traffic lights that could be fitted in Thomas's shed. I was also keen to include an outdoor traffic light which Thomas could use to signal when he wanted to be alone (red) and when it was ok for someone to enter his space (green). Unfortunately we were not able to source these but the internal traffic lights worked really well and continued the interactive theme.

Water is an essential element in both sensory and healing gardens as it can stimulate so many of our senses so I felt strongly that we needed to incorporate a low maintenance water feature into this garden. Having a good working relationship with a water specialist company called Ebb & Flow who make amazing water features that centre around the rhythmical movement of water, they were my
first choice. Warren from Ebb & Flow kindly came along to install one of their individually sculptured pieces, the mesmerizing Iona.

First version of garden design


View from house


View from Thomas's space


Garden in the evening with lights

Budget:

The budget for the garden turned out to be approximately 10% of what the original design would have cost. With free labour and many kind donations we were able to do the job within budget although there had been many cut-backs. Because I was working with a very clear design concept, knowing what needs to accommodate for, we were able to cut back without compromising the original design concept. Without the efforts of Ricky and his team from Carrick Landscapes the garden would never have been built, they were amazing and so generous giving up their time.

It was an amazing experience working with the DIY SOS team, both the team behind the camera as well as those in front of the camera. Everyone was so helpful, welcoming as well as hard working and when the project was finished I had mixed emotions feeling both satisfied but also sad to see the end of such a wonderful experience. What was particularly rewarding with this project was the great team spirit and the speed at which the build took; each day huge progress was made and the garden took shape literally in front of my eyes.

With the team

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Wednesday, July 06, 2011

School Playground Design - Access and Integration

Schools are increasingly required to accommodate for a wide range of needs, and a rich outdoor environment that offer a wide range of experiences can be a wonderful learning tool as it provides a wealth of opportunities for children of all ages and abilities. It is however essential that the design of these very important spaces are carefully planned and based on sound horticultural knowledge and a good understanding of children’s diverse needs.

The beauty of the outdoors is that nature is dynamic and forever changing. Nature offers opportunities that cannot be recreated indoors and spending time outdoors in the fresh air is important for our health and for our physical and mental development. Reality is however that cold and wet weather, poor access and poorly laid out gardens and playgrounds prevent us from using the outdoors to its full potential.

Access

To be fully inclusive and to encourage peer interaction, school playgrounds should be accessible to all and integrated to encourage contact between children of different ages and with different levels of ability. Paths should be wide enough to allow plenty of room for wheelchair users and ground surfaces should be even. Alternative walkways provide a sense of mystery and by using a variety of ground surface materials also interesting to explore. For partially sighted people surface materials help with orientation and therefore should be planned to inform users of what they are approaching during their journey.

Choice

Offering choice is important to encourage active decision making. By creating a number of separate areas that have different experiences and challenges to offer within the school playground, children can choose where they feel most comfortable to play. Circular paths that run through a space encourage movement. By starting and ending a path in the same place, users will always get back to where they started, which for some children are an important safety feature. Set off the main walk, alternative routes can be incorporated, creating separate areas each with different sensory experiences on offer.

Way finding

To inform users of which area they are entering, entrances that have clearly recognisable features can be included in a design. These features should not change with the seasons and should all be different to ensure they do not get confused. A piece of art, the sound of wind chimes or the sound of moving water to inform users of where they are are examples that can be used. The use of colour can also be an efficient way to facilitate orientation, for instance, arches can be painted in different colours and placed by each entrance. The chosen colours can then be picked up in the planting within each space in order to create a strong and recognisable colour identity for each area.

Themes

To satisfy a variety of needs and to give structure to an outdoor space, each ‘room’ could have a theme or focus. One of the themes can for example be an area to relax, where there is limited amount of stimuli and the dominating colours are green and white. Another theme could be water, since water has the ability to stimulate so many of our senses. There also needs to be an area where children are exposed to an element of controlled risk and challenge to explore their physical abilities as well as their limitations. A physically active area that offers an environment with uneven surfaces, changes in levels and balancing and climbing opportunities should therefore be accommodated for. Further themes that can be included in a school playground design are wildlife areas, kitchen gardens, tactile exploration, outdoor classrooms and nature trails.

Plants have a wonderful ability to provide a wide range of sensory stimulation in terms of their colour, scent, texture and ability to create sound. Care should be taken to ensure plants are within reach to all. A raised bed system allows for easy access and users to get into close proximity to plants. Seating in a playground must not be forgotten. Places to sit in pairs, small groups or larger groups, provides spots for children to stop and enjoy a view or sensation that they like.

We feel strongly that every child should be entitled to quality outdoor provision. In an age where access to explore the outdoors is limited due to safety concerns, school playgrounds have an important role in exposing children to a wide range of environments.

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Special Outdoor Spaces

A multi-sensory garden is a varied outdoor space where children can relax and feel safe, find comfort as well as challenge, explore and investigate and enjoy the company of others whilst benefiting from fresh air and natural light. A sensory garden is not just an outdoor area that has been packed with obvious sensory experiences such as scented plants, tactile surfaces, mirrors etc as these places easily become sterile and uninspiring. No, a true multi-sensory space should be a magical space which nurtures curiosity and appeals to all of our senses and not just the main five. As well as taste, sight, hearing, smell and touch it should also address the sense of heat and absence of heat, balance and body awareness. It needs to be a varied landscape divided into separate spaces with enough space between to prevent sensory overload.

Sensory rich spaces are brought alive when there are plenty of opportunities for children to discover, explore and relax and where challenging elements as well as elements of surprise are incorporated into the landscape. Green environments have a positive therapeutic effect on humans and is believed to reduce stress levels, therefore the use of plants is crucial for a sensory garden to be successful. No man made object offers what plants do with their dynamic and ever-changing qualities.

These special outdoor spaces appeal to all children, and they should be fully accessible and integrated spaces that children of all abilities can enjoy together. The use of specially made adjusted furniture such as wheelchair accessible tables, raised sand and water play facilities add to the play opportunities for children with disabilities. However, what is most important is that there are spaces where children with disabilities can play with other children. For example spaces where children in wheelchairs can lie down and play with others by crawling, rolling or sliding. At no time should specially made play equipment be placed in a separate area away from where other children play.

There are a number of practical issues to consider when designing outdoor spaces for children with disabilities. First of all access. Not only do paths need to be well surfaced and of a certain width, the transition from the inside to the outside should also be as easy as possible for children using wheelchairs or other mobility devices. There should not only be steps that connect different levels, instead changes in level should be avoided or ramped appropriately. Further, children with disabilities often have greater sensitivity to the sun and cold winds, therefore shade and wind protected areas should be incorporated to provide comfortable outdoor places to play.

Although water is an important feature in any garden we believe it is particularly important in a sensory garden as it can stimulate so many of our senses. The cool and wet feel of water can be very stimulating. The sound of water can be very relaxing and visually slow trickling water can have a calming effect. Water can also be played with in many ways. Moving water can be used to ‘ferry’ floating objects where their journeys can be followed with the eye and being able to create sound with your body by splashing water is both fun and rewarding particularly to those with restricted mobility. To further emphasise the sensory qualities incorporating sand, pebbles and grasses can enhance both the experience and the landscape surrounding the water further.

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