All buildings are set in landscape, and these outdoor spaces present incredible design opportunities.

At our State St rowhouse, our street wall is built to the property line so a series of window boxes and planters provide seasonal greenery to the community and a bit of privacy to ground-floor windows.

The small back yard had been largely neglected but left some incredible space and materials to work with. The L-shape of the house naturally leans itself to separate zones for the downstairs and upstairs tenants. Instead of a fence, I designed a lightning-bolt shaped raised planter bed to further define individual zones for different uses. Tall grasses provide lush filtered privacy where fences might feel confining.

We reused large slabs of slate found on site for most of the paving; the ashlar arrangement gives an organic ease to the main circulation around the yard. We used rectilinear paving at a new patio area to give it a crisp modern feel in a sea of grass and plants.

In warm months, the back yard is one of the main living and social spaces of the home, and the planters at the street greet guests with year-round plantings and decoration.

Hudson, NY
Completed 2020, refreshed constantly