Gondwanan Hush

Tree fern fronds stitch light into a green filigree that blurs the neighbour from sight.
Below, gravel and brick hold quiet ground, fern islands adrift in a lush, Gondwanan hush.

The brief

The courtyard needs to behave like an extra room. A seamless continuation of the interior, with sliding doors that pull the hallway, bench seat, record player and bar into the open air. Underfoot, it must stay clear, durable and trafficable, able to host small gatherings without feeling cluttered or precious.
And along the full southern boundary, privacy is non-negotiable: a screen rising to approximately 4.5m to block direct outlook from the neighbouring boarding house.

The space

We built privacy into the air, not just the edges: a tree fern and feature tree form a green filigree canopy that filters light and erases the neighbour’s first floor from view. Underneath, the ground plane is kept deliberately simple. Gravel paired with natural brick paving, so the space reads larger than its footprint, punctuated by small fern islands pooled at the base of the tree ferns. The mood is Gondwana rainforest, climbing philodendrons and creeping ficus trained up the walls to turn hard boundaries into living surfaces, lush and slightly prehistoric.