TIERS OF JOY

With the help of landscape designer Luke Baldwin, an idle sandy slope in Sydney's east has become an outdoor haven for an active family.

- Chris Pearson

While a well-designed garden always elevates a home, this multi-layered beauty in Sydney’s east reaches for the sky. Created by landscape architect Luke Baldwin of Formed Gardens, it is an inspired response to tricky topography, iffy sandy soils and an exposed coastal aspect.

Referred to the owners by a friend, Luke first stepped into the backyard in 2019. But, while the garden raises the spirits now, it certainly didn’t then. “Although generous, the garden was steep, sandy and unusable,” he says. “It presented with failing walls and overgrown vegetation, due to lack of foundations and inaccessibility.” An elderly Chinese elm left leaf litter all over the brick patio too. “We could see there was potential to create a terraced garden with pool elevated above the house, but it would take a huge amount of structural work, given the unstable sandy soil and beachside conditions,” says Luke. On the upside, the steep slope presented an opportunity to be creative with the levels.

The simple and succinct brief from the owners? “We wanted a good-sized pool and useable, low-maintenance spaces for three kids and a dog.” And it had to be “modern, clean and uncomplicated”, to leave time for an active family to enjoy swimming and other recreation.