_JAPARA KELASTON LANDSCAPE

The Collie landscape team worked with the project architects to prepare the landscape concept which formed part of the planning permit application package for the proposed new Japara Kelaston Aged Care Facility Dementia wing in Wendouree, Ballarat.  The landscape design comprised two main tasks.

Firstly, Collie identified and distilled the key site specific landscape design prerequisites, which included the following.

• Site layout and building orientation [with dry tolerant and low maintenance plant selections preferred on the north and west sides and shade / semi shade plant selections preferred on the east and south sides].
• Viewable but not accessible landscape areas which surround the building, and provide each bedroom with garden views.
• Accessible landscape areas [for quiet contemplation], extending into but not providing access or views through to, the surrounding landscapes.
• Viewable and accessible intensively managed landscape areas internal to the building [with opportunities for communal activity, shade/sun, plant touch/feel/pick and circuit walking].
• Design principles including privacy, safety, security, enclosure, comfort, familiarity and clear wayfinding.
• Planting themes with seasonal clues and variety in colour [flower and or foliage] and form [plant size and shape and plant leaf shade].

Then guided by these fundamentals, Collie developed the landscape concept incorporating ‘seasonal colour’, ‘shaded’, ‘succulent’, ‘banksia’, ‘courtyard’ and ‘walled’ gardens.

The seasonal colour garden [1] located on the east side, comprises a mix of deciduous [exotic] and evergreen [native] trees on a grassed surface.  The shaded garden [2] located on the south side comprises a mix of shade tolerant trees and shrubs in a timber mulched garden bed with scattered ornamental rocks.  The succulent garden [3] located on the west side comprises a mix of dry tolerant trees and shrubs in a Tuscan pebble mulched garden bed, abutting a grassed area with scattered trees.  The banksia garden [4] located on the north side comprises a mix of predominantly native trees and shrubs in a timber mulched garden bed with scattered ornamental rocks, abutting a grassed area with scattered trees.  The courtyard gardens [5] located on the north side [between the banksia and seasonal colour gardens] and the south side [between the shaded and seasonal colour gardens], comprise a formal mix of low shrubs in a timber mulch garden bed [which define the edge of the paved area] abutting screening climbers on the boundary fences.  The walled gardens [6] located internally, comprise a number of raised planters, boundary green walls [to be supplied separately], a circuit-like paved walking path [permeable pavers] and a number of communal sitting spaces on synthetic grass. These gardens will require management of the plant selections for the raised planters, changing with the seasons.  Touchability, fragrance and productivity are considered important in these spaces along with the viewability.