Two courtyards stand at the center of this 6-acre pedestrian friendly community. The 350-apartment site is located in the City of Sunrise with two residential buildings and a parking garage tucked in between. Open space is at premium in this project. Restoring the wetlands and limiting the construction to the uplands meant high density and large building footprint. Landscape Design Workshop organized the community around the negative space created by the building footprint. Each one of these areas is programed with interconnected spaces offering a diverse outdoor experience. The collaboration between the client and the landscape architect led to the efficient use of open space opportunities within the site constraints. This collaboration also created a vibrant community with a variety of outdoor spaces serving a broad spectrum of residents.

Located just south of downtown in a developing neighborhood, this new home was inspired by the mid-century modern architecture for which Sarasota is known. The homeowners–avid architecture enthusiasts–selected the design team for its ability to deliver a project that emphasizes how they live and that seamlessly melds architecture with its environment. The team collaborated on a singular design, modern in its aesthetic as well as its integration of the inside with the exterior. The overarching goal was to employ the tenets of modernism– clean horizontal lines, a minimal material palette and precise details–to create a harmonious and tactile experience from the ground up. The layering of architecture and landscape in this suburban site facilitates the owners’ lifestyle as active residents of their neighborhood and community, while maintaining a sense of privacy and quiet in their vibrant landscape.

Timeless elegance through material and planting selections designed by Raymond Jungles, Inc., the gardens seamlessly meld modern construction with the surrounding historic village community of Coconut Grove. Curving forms, gracious ramps, and twisting palm trees, complement the spiraling geometry of the dynamic towers. The 2.9 acre project and corresponding gardens have brought tremendous attention to Coconut Grove, defining a level of quality for all future developments in the Miami area. Large legacy trees on the site not only provide tremendous areas of shade, but also, blur the lines between what is old and new; it has even sparked conversations about future landscape improvements throughout the neighborhood. Uplifting and iconic, the gardens will enhance the village experience, graciously shading the ample public and pedestrian experiences with park-like amenities.

This recently completed 1 acre single-family residential home welcomes a landscape designed by Raymond Jungles, Inc. demonstrating how garden elements can meld the built environment seamlessly with the natural. The architecture incorporated raw materials such as exposed concrete, stone, and wood to complement the natural site. The family compound has a continuous design language, from the site-specific use of materials, to the indigenous plantings and specimen trees. In addition to a traditional swimming pool, the garden envelopes a bio-filtered natural swimming pool that includes Red Mangrove and native wetland plants. A curvilinear walkway creates a bridge over the natural pool offering a unique perspective to the garden below, and access to the second floor main living area. The planting design is natural and lush, and plant species are composed to create a wild feel, and to create privacy from the neighboring properties.

On a mountainous site 3800’ above sea level, on the edge of two national forests, the owner desired a private seasonal retreat to escape the balmy summers of Charlotte, NC and frenetic pace of urban dwelling. The key was creating a place to reconnect with nature that would also serve as inspiration for her writing. It was the landscape architect’s goal from the project’s inception to preserve and engage the forests, ravine, and geologic outcropping with the client’s requirements for views and circulation. The challenge was to create a unified visual language and link the proposed landscape with the mature forest while infusing the project with expressions of a verdant English cottage garden. 20+ after its implementation, images of the Blue Ridge Cottage show how simple gestures, quality materials, good craft and understated elegance can result in an enduring sense of place where one can reconnect with what is essential and natural.

On this 38-acre island in the Intracoastal Waterway off Longboat Key, nearly half the land is dedicated to a conservation easement. Adjacent to the protected acreage, this family retreat is one of only six residences on the island. The homeowner wanted a family vacation destination that “looks like it sprang up out of the woods,” recalling childhood memories from summers spent at a friend’s lake cottage. The 5-acre site however, was overrun with invasive exotics. With a strong environmental ethos the site was transformed to a family compound focused on the iconic Florida lifestyle. This project is an object lesson that sustainability and landscape conservation, especially in sensitive ecologies, require intervention, management, and maintenance.

Cadence worked with the homeowners and architect, Jack Arnold, from the onset of the project. Cadence assisted in selective clearing of the initial home site, sited the new home and selected the proper finish floor elevation for the structure to achieve a balanced cut and fill scenario while ensuring the back pool terrace feature worked seamlessly with the u-shaped foot print of the home. The final plan respects the existing lay of the land and existing signature trees have been integrated into the landscape design. The client’s master gardener background and a strong vision for melding french country garden design with classic Louisiana garden design elements were brought to fruition throughout the one acre site. Cadence developed all hardscape and exterior wall and gate elements in close collaboration with the tone the architect set forth for the home.