Life & Style | Home & Interiors
A contemporary garden in Khalifa City
Modern minimalism and functionality pair up to create a sophisticated urban space in the capital
- By Angela Boshoff Hundal, InsideOut
- Published: 00:00 November 15, 2011
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
- “I’ve never liked curves and always lean toward the linear so this garden is a true expression of what I love about design”
Kamelia Bin Zaal, creative landscape director at Second Nature, is a fan of clean lines and contemporary form so when she was asked to create an Abu Dhabi garden in that very style, she jumped at the chance. "The client had a simple brief for his Khalifa City garden," Kamelia says. "The words he used to describe what he wanted were ‘minimal, modern yet functional' which is just my taste. The added bonus was that he gave me relatively free rein creatively."
While the end result is spacious and sophisticated, Kamelia says it took some time to get the property that way. "I had to finish the outdoor space, from start to finish, in about four months," she explains. The client wanted the garden to follow the layout of the house, which is built in a U-shape. While this isn't difficult in itself, Kamelia and her client had to come up with innovative and unique styles for the various sections of the site that would suit the contemporary home's architecture.
Using the shape of the house as her starting point, Kamelia created individualised "pockets" throughout the garden to complement the home's functions. "The client enjoys entertaining so we looked at the rooms that led onto the garden and tried to bring them outside," she says. "The pockets were not only a great way to create a different feel in each section, but also placed areas out of sight of neighbours' prying eyes."
The centre courtyard - adjacent to the living room and perfect for socialising in cooler months - is a great example of bringing the indoors outside. "While this is the biggest ‘pocket', every area of the garden is open yet cosy," Kamelia explains. "To maintain consistency we kept the style minimal in every section but brought in an abundance of detail and texture with materials like basalt, sandstone, wood and gravel."
Kamelia's philosophy that water creates a "cooling, calming atmosphere", led her to add two water features to the outdoor space. She transformed a third water feature - built by the home's architect to separate the driveway from the front of the house - into a daring elemental sculpture by adding "rocks and fire features to the original design".
While the man-made aspects of the garden are predominantly grey and white, the natural landscape is deliberately lush and green. "I liked the contrasting colours and wanted to enhance the shape of the space with flora and fauna but I didn't want to fill it," Kamelia says. "In the end I chose strong architectural plants, palms and trees like plumeria obtusa, roystonea regia, mascarena veitchi, hymenocallis, juncus grass, agave variegated and hibiscus variegated and dotted them sparsely through the landscape."
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When asked to define her favourite aspect of the garden she says, "I love it all. I've never liked curves and lean toward the linear so this garden is a true expression of what I love about design."
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