Gardens and surroundings

In Holland — as in almost all of Northern Europe — residential projects assign the utmost importance to the landscaping of the outdoor spaces, which are considered on a par with the interiors. In this elegant private home in Schaijk, a village in the Dutch province of Noord Brabant, the swimming pool space serves as a kind of outdoor promenade integrating with the residence. The Dutch firm Van Esch Hoveniers, commissioned to carry out the landscape design of the garden, created an outdoor area on various levels that can be accessed via a series of steps and ramps set within the natural greenery of the garden itself. The space devoted to the pool and sun deck is located on a lower level surrounded by low walls, some of which are interspersed with glazed partitions. The garden is also enclosed by evergreen hedges and dakbomen trees that shelter the property from neighbouring houses and ensure the utmost privacy. The project, carried through in August 2012, also included an open-air fireplace, a storeroom, a sauna and a Turkish bath in an adjacent low outbuilding opposite the main house.
The architectural section of the garden, consisting of the pool, sundeck and terrace in front of the house, is divided into different levels with steps and low walls built from facing bricks that mimic the façade of the villa. A stone effect ceramic tile collection in a rectified 60×60 cm module with textured finish was chosen for the pavings and for the wall coping. The designers chose this product for a number of reasons. First was a desire to maintain continuity between the materials used outdoors and inside the main residence and the need to choose a colour and material that would balance the bricks and vegetation effectively. The chosen collection (K2 from Ceramiche Keope) consists of 20 mm thick tiles along with a wide range of trim pieces, accessories and coordinated elements, making it ideal for use for the swimming pool surround, the water runoff and the coping on the enclosing walls. The high degree of design flexibility made it possible to meet various requirements in terms of dimensions and shapes. The system also guarantees outstanding performance in an outdoor environment due to its high resistance to breaking loads, thermal shock, salt, mould, moss and copper sulphate treatments.