Industrail Evolution

A courtyard garden in the heart of sydney provides a welcome inner-city retreat for its owners while honouring its hard-working past.

- Jane Rowley

Part of converted factory space, this garden and pool were designed to conjure a moody, industrial feel. Alongside the pool, landscape designer Hugh Main planted a layered garden bed featuring rough maidenhair fern (Adiantum hispidulum), Brazilian walking iris (Neomarica gracilis) and Crassula undulatifolia under a tropical birch (Betula nigra). In front of the wall cut-out is a Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’. The pool, installed by Land Forms, is tiled in a grey slate. Sandstone coping from Gosford Quarries.

Steadfast city dwellers Nik Auzins and Emma Shearer value the eclectic buildings that define Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Annandale. New-build high-rise apartments jostle with 1970s offices, while narrow terraces and aging warehouses spill down to the harbor. “The heritage of the area and its industrial past is visible not only in the architecture but also in the remnants of old machinery along the waterfront,” says Emma.

Charmed by the character of the area, the couple bought an abandoned warehouse that had been weathered by 90 years of manufacturing and trade. They converted the vaulted spaces, rough brick walls and exposed timber into a stunning home. Then, to complete the build, they purchased the adjoining disused courtyard and commissioned landscape designer Hugh Main from Spirit Level to transform the 100-square-meter space.

They wanted a garden that would honor its industrial heritage while also providing them with sanctuary and catering for their beloved Portuguese water dogs, Issy and Bica.