The expansive elevated garden at Capitol Grand has been designed by one of Melbourne’s most celebrated and in-demand landscape gardeners, Jack Merlo.
Recently we went to his offices in Toorak Rd and asked him a few questions about how this space will look and function, and how he went about designing it – you can read Part 1 of the interview here.
In Part II of this interview we ask him about plant choices, challenges, and his own satisfaction with the design.
How have you decided to plant the area?
My approach typically, and has been the case with this job, is to do block planting. So, these really large drifts and big gestures rather than having a really fussy design with too many elements. I think it is a stronger response if you just use things on mass and do bigger gestures.
With the elevated gardens at Capitol Grand we haven’t got hundreds of different types of plants, it’s a careful selection of plants. A lot of the lower planting has been chosen to suit the conditions; it’s a combination of ever green ground covers with low shrubs and ground covers that flower a different time of year. It will have that visual interest. I think keeping a simple palate and something that responds well to the interiors and the external facades as well it’s going to make it successful.
What are some of the biggest challenges with in this project?
There’s the inherent challenges posed by landscaping on a concrete slab as basically so we’ve to artificially create soil volumes for plants to grow. You also have to look at the wind conditions and levels of light, there’s so many factors that you just have to add in in addition to what a typical at-grade garden would be to get it to work. So it’s careful plant selection, looking at your different aspects and the shadow diagrams.
You want to create a sense of exclusivity and privacy for the people using the spaces. There’s quite a lot of residents so what we’ve been conscious of is to provide numerous break-out zone and places that people can use. There’s quite a lot of thought to getting the design to this point. It’s not like designing a backyard.
While there are many inherent challenges to designing a garden on a roof terrace or a concrete slab, they can be amazing spaces… To see these otherwise empty expanses of concrete as functional, useable space I think is a real benefit and its makes my job interesting. It’s certainly an area of my business that has really developed in recent years. And it’s great that developers such as LK Property Group are investing good money in creating these outdoor environments.
What most pleases you about this project?
I think that landscape is a really key element to any development because there’s clear benefits of higher density living – it just means you’ve got the amenity of living in a fantastic location so close to everything. At Capitol Grand, you’re right in the heart of South Yarra.
The apartments will be beautiful, generous and great internal environments, but to have the added benefit of what would otherwise be meters and meters of concrete expanse is special. To have a beautiful green space, that’s not only visually soothing and relaxing to look onto but a useable space is going to benefit those make the transition from a home into an apartment. They’re not really having to forgo a green space and an outdoor environment.
Like I say it’s the visual aspect of it and also the functional aspect – you can go and take a walk through the garden, you can have outdoor entertaining, you can have the pool but the benefit of it all is that you don’t have to maintain it, it’s all left to someone else.
