ApartmentDevelopments.com.au's Editor, Jordan Taylor-Bartels, sat down with landscaper, Paul Bangay, to chat about design, greenery and apartments.
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ApartmentDevelopments:
Hi Paul. Thanks for sitting down with me.
Paul Bangay:
Hi Jordan. Pleasure, no problems.
AD:
When landscaping a garden, do you work based upon your own design principals or do you work with others to develop this plan?
PG:
It defends on whether we are doing a development, which most of them are, you work more closely with the architect, they’re usually designed before they’re sold. You don’t really have a client interaction, which is fairly unusual for garden designers. You have a relationship with the architect, and the brief comes from the architect. Rarely from the developer, sometimes the developer is silent, and sometimes you never know who they are.
AD:
When you are formulating design, are you following trends?
PG:
I think with apartments, it is trends. Most of the architects and developers are really trying to make them fashionable;e. The apartments that are doing well are the middle-market ones, not the top end ones. So they’re all trying to make them as sexy as possible, as groovy as possible, so they’re trying to definitely work towards trends.
AD:
What trends are happening now?
PG:
The big trend now is to make it as green as possible. Not green as in energy, but as green, as in foliage. So they’re trying to put as much green over the building, things trailing down, throwing as much green material as they can. So instead of it being a steer, they really want it to have more greenery.
AD:
Do you find yourself being approached to design individual apartment gardens?
PG:
We tend to shy away from that a little bit. We get the odd client who used to have a big garden, and then downsized into an apartment and they want us to do their balcony or rooftop or something.
AD:
Is that easy?
PG:
No. Its horrible (laughs). You have no soil, wind, belting sun or complete shade, and you have loading problems, every time you want to do something there are weight problems, and you have safety issues because kids can get up on planter boxes and get over it. It’s really difficult. Unless its for big apartments with great developers, we tend to shy away from them.
AD:
What is Paul Bangay landscaping?
PG:
We aim to be timeless - and we try not to follow trends too closely. We want a garden, or a balcony, or a rooftop, that will be just as good in 10 years time - it retains its relevancy. We want in 10 years time, for you still to love it, and not want to rip it up, chuck it out and start again. Others tend to use all those funky things like outdoor televisions, and focus on now materials, things that will date, but they are very popular…now
AD:
How do you pitch a design, or a concept knowing that plants change and grow?
PG:
You just need to know the market place, depends where they are built as well. If it is built in the middle of Toorak, you know they are going to be a little more conservative and that they will want more of a traditional look. You know if you are building in Brunswick they will be a little more out there, a little more experimental, and much more into the ‘now’ in terms of planting styles.
AD:
How do you show them your end product, before you even start?
PG:
It is really important. For private clients, we do plans, and show them plans as well as photographs of plants. For developers and apartment blocks, they want renderings and 3D imagery. And that takes quite a lot of time - there is often a lot of back and forth with 3D renderings trying to get the right look and right textures that the architect or developer wants. They really want to see what they are getting, not as a plan, but as a 3D image.
AD:
How long does the process take from concept to product?
PG:
It depends really. If it is just ten apartments in Toorak, you can do it quite fast - it can take only a couple of months. The big park one we have been working on in St Kilda Rd has taken years, and that is just the planning - and that hasn't started yet. We have to take into consideration, heritage, city planning as well as St Kilda Rd heritage.
AD:
What plants are primarily used for apartments, what the philosophy?
PG:
For apartments it is really important to use tough things. With residential buildings, it is a little more flexible as they have gardeners, and tend to be a little more passionate about the garden - which allows us to use more sensitive things and experiment a bit more.
PG:
Thanks Paul!
AD:
Thanks Jordan!
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For more on Paul Bangay Landscaping visit www.paulbangay.com