Creative Haven An inspiring new courtyard transforms an innerSydney terrace turned workplace.
Business meetings are infinitely more enjoyable now that greenery has been invited into this workplace.
There are countless studies on the positive effects of greening our workplaces. The presence of plants can help to clean the air, lift the mood, boost concentration and even assist with productivity. They also just look great.
All of these benefits have flowed from the transformation of this courtyard at the offices of See-Saw Films, an internationally renowned film and television production company (award-winning movies Lion and The King’s Speech are among its credits). The small but busy company operates from an old terrace house in the inner-Sydney suburb of Paddington. Like many creative workplaces, it’s a non-corporate environment and refurbishing the courtyard garden was seen as an important part of fostering a pleasant, buzzy work culture.
The brief to Rebecca Colechin, lead designer at Garden Life, was to create a lovely, leaf-filled space that could be used for multiple purposes. It also had to be low maintenance and easy to keep clean. “On a day-to-day basis it’s a break-out space for the 10 or so staff where they can hold team meetings around the ‘round table’,” says Rebecca. “It also had to accommodate evening gatherings and events.”
When Rebecca first visited the site, the courtyard was dated: the paving was old and uneven, and the roof structure had been left to collect leaf litter and debris, which was blocking out
the natural light. There were three trees and only a remnant understorey garden that was struggling in the low light conditions. Measuring 11x6 metres, the south-west facing courtyard is also shaded by surrounding buildings.
Rebecca’s priority was to devise a palette of low-maintenance plants that would thrive in these conditions. Retaining the three existing trees – a peppercorn ( Schinus molle), a grey myrtle ( Backhousia myrtifolia) and a Song of India ( Dracaena reflexa) – she focused on the lower plantings. “We selected species that thrive as understorey plants in subtropical to tropical areas.”
These include the glossy, large-leafed Monstera deliciosa, Philodendron ‘Congo’ and Philodendron cordatum, sculptural foxtail ferns ( Asparagus ‘Meyersii’), staghorns ( Platycerium superbum) and walking iris ( Neomarica gracilis).
These plants are all mustered into a curved, raised garden bed that extends down one side of the space. The bed is shaped by custom-made six-millimetre aluminium edging painted Murobond Bridge Paint in Carbon. “We introduced the raised garden bed to increase the soil depth, which is essential for successful plant growth,” says Rebecca. “It also adds a third dimension to the space by lifting the plants up off the ground and gave us an edge to mount some subtle garden lighting on. I love how the curved shape leads the eye on a journey around the space.”
Clusters of potted feature plants help to enliven the courtyard, too, including large white cylinder pots planted with long-leaf fig ( Ficus longifolia), Monstera deliciosa and snake plant ( Sansevieria trifasciata).
Rebecca split the courtyard into two zones – lounging and dining – and introduced a change of level between the two areas. “This eliminates the step down when you walk out of the office and gives each of the two zones its own identity,” she says. She also changed the flooring material between the two zones, using spotted-gum decking for the sitting area and black granite pavers for the dining.
In the sitting area, Rebecca installed a 3.5-metre long built-in bench seat with cushions covered in a robust Sunbrella ‘Cast Granite’ outdoor fabric with charcoal piping. Behind the seat, the fence is disguised by a wall of pine battens, painted Dulux Timeless Grey. More battens – this time painted white – are used to line the underside of the pergola. “It hides the unattractive clear polycarbonate roof, while still allowing light in,” Rebecca says.
To complete the design, she created a discreet area to hide bins and the airconditioning condenser. There’s also new garden lighting and heating for a seamless transition from daytime meetings to evening gatherings and events. It’s a design that could easily be adapted to an urban residential courtyard, says Rebecca. “This office is in a terrace house, so it was fitting for it to be non-corporate. The aim was to create a space where people enjoy spending time – and that’s the principle of all garden design.”
“The raised garden bed adds a third dimension by lifting the plants off the ground; it also leads the eye around the space.”