Services

Sustainable Sanctuaries offers aesthetic and environmental design services in:

  • Landscape and urban master planning
  • Property planning
  • Landscape and garden design
  • Garden design incorporating permaculture and feng shui principles
  • Sourcing landscape contractors, other consultants and product suppliers
  • Supervising garden construction
  • Development assessment
  • Research and report writing
  • Illustration
  • Workshops about sustainability, sanctuary and garden design

Aim

To work closely with clients for creative and practical solutions which suit their location, architecture, aspirations and budget

Scope

Landscape design services apply to a range of property sizes – from balcony or courtyard to rural acreage; from community facilities to commercial and institutional sites like workplaces, schools and nursing homes. They can be scaled to suit a range of needs and budgets, may cover the whole or part of a place, and may be:

  • On-site sketches and notes – based on site walkabout and discussion with client
  • Simple concept design – a preliminary concept for straightforward jobs and /or suitable as a guideline for client to undertake works themselves
    • annotated site plan showing spatial layout and themes of different garden areas (“detailed bubble diagram”)
    • key design elements such as garden bed and lawn shapes; and approximate locations of walls, steps, paths and paved areas
    • plant massing areas (general location of trees, shrubs, groundcovers and feature plants, without assigning species names and numbers)
    • general specification notes re key design and management / maintenance issues (eg removal or retention of existing plants and infrastructure, weeding, irrigation and drainage considerations)
    • annotated photographs and/or sketch sections to help illustrate the above
  • Detailed concept design and staging plan – a more comprehensive option suitable for more complex jobs, and for contractor quotations and construction
    • developed garden concept – refined layout plan, perhaps with sectional elevations to show level changes and relative scale of various garden areas
    • nooks and statement spots for feature items such as sculptures, pots, seats, water elements and special plants
    • preferred design elements (eg materials for paving, steps, retaining walls, garden bed edging, fences)
    • detailed planting layout and species list
    • irrigation and drainage recommendations if required – (to be confirmed by a skilled contractor and/or qualified irrigation / drainage consultant)
    • suggested staging options to guide construction sequence
  • Detailed landscape plan – construction documentation and paperwork suitable for council submission if works approval is required

While Sustainable Sanctuaries focuses mostly on landscape and garden design, it can also advise how to better link the indoor living or work space to the external environment.

Consultation process

  • On-site meeting for an initial and personalised consultation of about 1 – 2 hours
  • Assessment of site’s unique qualities and understanding of client requirements
  • Discussion about project potential, ideas, level of detail and scope of services
  • Design fee quotation – assigning part of fee to each design stage
  • Quotation acceptance and sign-off
  • Site survey – either provision of scaled plan by client, engagement of professional survey for more complex sites, or site measure-up by designer for simpler sites
  • Site visit for photos and preparation of base plan
  • Preparation of concept design for discussion and amendment if necessary
  • Design completion
  • Follow-up advice and assistance with sourcing contractors
  • Supervision of garden construction if required

Fees

Reasonable fees are individually negotiated on the basis of property size, complexity of work and individual budgets, and are generally staged throughout the design process.

Insurance

Sustainable Sanctuaries has current Professional Indemnity and Public Liability insurance.