Benjamin Brown

Spring 2004

Texas A&M University

LAND 646

CASE STUDY

PROJECT NAME: Proler Residence West Courtyard

LOCATION: Houston, Texas, USA

RECOGNITION: Award of Excellence in Design of Constructed Projects, Texas

Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects,

1991

Abstract. Recognized projects are a particularly excellent way to study how projects are successfully managed from design to implementation. Unfortunately, after a project has been recognized for its excellence, it is the tendency of the landscape architecture profession to move ahead and never look back. One very useful method of evaluating these projects is the case study. The case study offers an opportunity to obtain information and knowledge through the research and analysis of projects and the processes that have made them successful or failures. It is the purpose of this case study to go back to an awarded project and use the same systematic examination to explore the process, decision making and outcomes that once made the project successful and determine if the same formula of success holds true after 10 years of existence.

This study will focus on a residential courtyard in an affluent portion of Houston, Texas. The courtyard was once a lap swimming pool surrounded by paved patio space and enclosed on all four sides by the walls of the home it served, the home neighboring it, and a brick wall. The designers and landscape architects successfully transformed the pool and patio into a much smaller reflecting pool and surrounded it with a garden that could be viewed from the residents as they moved about their home. After 14 years the question of how it fared against time will either further its award winning status or go down in history as a design that couldn’t last.

Benjamin Brown

Spring 2004

Texas A&M University

LAND 646

CASE STUDY

Project Name: Proler Residence West Courtyard

Location: No. 2 South Briar Hollow Lane, Houston, Texas, USA

Date Designed/Planned: April 30, 1990

Construction Completed: September 1990

Construction Cost: approx. $85,000.00 (US)

Size: 1080 square feet

Landscape Architect(s): McDugald-Steele- Michael H. Stasik

John Steele

Client: Mr. & Mrs. Herman Proler

Managed By: McDugald-Steele

West Courtyard, 1990. Courtesy McDugald-Steele

Context. The Proler residence is located in west Houston, Texas, just south of Memorial Park inside the 610 Interstate Loop. The Prolers built the home in the early 1970s on the west side of the high-end residential area of River Oaks. The home is a large townhouse in a gated neighborhood with similar sized homes.

The house is arranged as an inverted “T” with two enclosed courtyards on either side of the north-south portion of the shape of the house. Each courtyard has a pool and water feature. The entrance to the home from the parking area located at the north end of the house provides a view of the west courtyard just to the right upon entry into the living room. The view is available through floor to ceiling sliding glass doors that make the east and south boundaries of the courtyard and provide an uninterrupted view of the space as the home turns west into the master bedroom. The western boundary is a wall of a neighboring townhouse and is disguised by three painted wood trellises and bamboo thickets. The northern boundary is a brick wall that seamlessly matches the house and the brick pillars that separate the trellises. Atop each pillar is a beam that extends back over the courtyard to the top elevation of the house creating a rather open arbor-like feeling underneath. The angle of the beams mimic the inside slope of the living room ceiling and the glass wall that separates inside from out also bisects the apparent pitch and peak of the entire structure.

The space measures 30-feet from east to west by 36-feet north to south. A 4 ½-foot by 21-foot shallow reflecting pool serves as the courtyard’s focal point positioned just off the central axis of the courtyard space. It is 18-inches deep, has a dark plastered finish and a boulder water feature with a bubbling fountain emerging from just off its center. Surrounding the pool, the walkway is comprised of 12-inch square flagstone tile in a contrasting warm sandstone color. They also appear in stepping areas throughout the planting beds connecting the space to the home in an offset axis configuration. The planting beds are nicely arranged with irises, azaleas, Indian hawthorn, dwarf monkey grass, and two medium sized multi-trunk river birches located in opposing corners, northeast and southwest. The green tones of the plants provide a pleasant and warm contrast to the light brown brick of the home and the occasional patches of smooth, gray river stone serving as ground cover. Climbing fig completely covers the garden wall separating the courtyard from the parking area.

The space serves primarily as a viewing garden from the interior of the home and is not frequently used for any other purpose. It is quite successful in this purpose. The light that infuses the interior of that portion of the house is a beautiful reflection of greens and blues. The space provides a welcoming feeling to visitors as they enter the home through the front door and a delightful distraction to the patterns and familiarities of a comfortable, well lived-in abode. It is a very subtle presence of nature that does not dominate the interior space yet allows an occupant to feel comfortable with the interaction of inside and outside space.

View of courtyard from living room.

Site Analysis. The home is located on a zero-lot line with courtyards occupying any open space around the structure. Bounded by the home’s glass walls to the east and south and by a neighboring home’s eastern wall (no windows) to the west, the only access from outside the home is provided for maintenance in the 8-foot high garden wall to the north. Access from the home is provided by glass sliding doors that offer entry from a variety of locations from the living and bedroom areas. Views are strictly internal, as the courtyard is completely enclosed from outside visual access. The space is very level with drainage provided by a subterranean drainage system with two grated openings and underlying perforated pipe located in the planting beds. An irrigation system with pop-up sprinkler heads provides water to the planting areas separate from the water supply to the pool and water feature. The courtyard has lighting fixtures placed on the home’s exterior as well as three 50-watt mercury vapor uplights in the planting beds providing lighting accents at night to coincide with the pool’s lighting source. Pumps and filters for the pool are located in a service nook in the southwest corner of the courtyard partially hidden by a trellis and completely enclosed behind a solid wooden gate.

Project Background & History. The Proler family built the home in the early 1970s and added on to it in 1990 with the collaboration of an architect and courtyards designed by the Houston firm, McDugald-Steele. In the previous space of the West Courtyard was a small swimming pool and surrounding patio that wasn’t getting much use. It was the desire of the residents to replace the swimming pool and add a reflecting pool complete with coy and aquatic plants surrounded by an enclosed garden for viewing from within the house. Headed by landscape architects John Steele and Michael Stasik the challenge of transforming the space from a utilitarian area to a more peaceful meditative space meant finding a creative solution to convert the existing swimming pool or reconstruct the entire area for the smaller reflecting pool. Factors like the existing massive concrete structure and extensive plumbing and wiring systems were daunting but the team decided the best solution and most cost effective method was to use as much of the existing pool infrastructure as possible. The portion of the swimming pool that was not going to be utilized was appropriately filled and compacted and the old pumping and lighting systems were disabled. The northern and a portion of the eastern pool’s coping were used to be the reflecting pool’s northern and eastern boundaries. In an amazing transformation the new reflecting pool exhibited a dynamic that the swimming pool and patio did not; a renewal of open space for the residents to enjoy with a light airy and natural viewing garden space (Stasik, Michael, Personal interview. 2004.)

Photos courtesy Mcdugald-Steele

Post-construction reflecting pool

Previously existing swimming pool

Genesis of Project. The property owner, Herman Proler, and the designer, John Steele, set the main goals of the project. They were primarily aesthetic in origin designed to create a more refined impression upon entry into the household. Also, a closer tie to nature was desired to create a visual relationship of outside elements of plants and water with inside living areas. Ecologically, the space had been nearly completely paved prior to the new design. The project reduced the area of hard surfaces and increased softer elements with planting beds filled with textured plants and ground covers. The social implications are not as important in this residential setting aside from the increase in property value due to the improvements (Stasik, Michael, Personal interview.2004.)

The project goals remained intact throughout construction and apart from the typical evolution of design details, the designer was successful in solving the main agenda of softening the entry area and creating a memorable experience for the visitor and resident alike. The addition of a more natural area provided in extra benefit of added habitat for urban wildlife. The addition also caused a minor detraction in the amount of maintenance necessary to keep the space tidy but this was predictable and came as no surprise to the owner. It is viewed as a very acceptable trade-off when compared to the benefits the space provides (Stasik, Michael, Personal interview. 2004.)

Design Process. The key design concept of the project was to create a viewing garden that softened the entry into the home. It was not necessarily designed to be an area for the residents or guests to congregate, although amenities were provided for access into the area. Inspiration for the form of the design were taken from the arbor-like structure mirroring the interior ceiling of the living room and the existing brick columns that provided a screen from the bare wall of the neighbor’s home when partnered with the trellises. Although the design is a slight departure from Mcdugald-Steele’s typical, more formal garden style reputation, the size and shape of the space dictated a more natural theme than the firm’s usual large-scale projects (Stasik, Michael, Personal interview.2004.) Even with the project’s space inhibition a formal sense is conveyed with the sharp lines of the pool and paving and the vertical elements of the columns, trellises and arbor. The only curves present in the courtyard are those natural arcs present in the plants and the formal top spans of the trellises. This formalizing of a naturalized space helps provide the visual pleasantness from inside the home while also conveying the desire to keep the courtyard slightly off limits to the casual wanderer.

Development Process. The implementation portion of the development process consisted of basically eleven steps:

High pressure irrigation system

Lighting system

Planting material in bedding areas

Aquatic plants in pool.

An estimation of approximate cost allotment per phase is as follows:

Design and drawings fees 10% of fee

Hardscape 60% of fee

Plant material, irrigation,

and lighting 30% of fee.

The political process involved getting approval of the homeowners association for the concept plans and obtaining municipal building permits for the drainage and electrical work. Most of the permitting was the responsibility of the subcontractors performing the tasks but the landscape architects oversaw the procedures to assure all municipal building codes were met (Stasik, Michael, Personal interview. 2004.)

Decision-making Process. The decision making process involved the primary leaders in the project. The owner, of course, helped set the guidelines as to what outcome was desired with the landscape architect. Any changes to the design that needed to take place, depending on the scale, might have been discussed with the owner, but most field changes took place with the landscape architects approval. The project managers who oversaw the subcontractor’s work would report any problems that needed attention from the landscape architect and he, in turn, would notify the owner if a major decision needed to be made. This level of communication and reporting allowed the project to be implemented smoothly and without major problems (Stasik, Michael, Personal interview.2004.)

Role of Landscape Architect. As the team leader, the landscape architect handled the project concept, design development, program development, and project implementation. The landscape architect is also currently managing the continuing responsibility of site maintenance. Of the key goals for the landscape architect, communication is cited as being the most important. Maintaining a positive relationship with the owner, the project managers, and the subcontractors was most valuable in the success of this project. Also noted as a key element to the project’s success was simplicity. Keeping the shape and form and the construction details as uncomplicated as possible while still maintaining good design and clear instruction helped keep problems from arising and work moving smoothly.

Key participants the landscape architect worked with during the project:

(Stasik, Michael, Personal interview. 2004.)

Program Elements. The program was developed by the landscape architect to provide quality assurance and rapid installation with as minimal amount of conflict of the elements involved as possible. Demolition to soft material installation only took four months. The project size did not really reflect the complexity of the issues present with the site, so time allotted for construction was greater than the amount it would normally take for a project of similar size. The elements and logistics of the earthwork, plumbing, electrical, concrete installation, wood and stone structures, irrigation, lighting, and plant material were complicated by the fact that the site was transformed from a swimming pool. Finishing on time was definitely a success in itself for a project of such complexity and inherent challenges.

Maintenance and Management. The site is currently managed by McDugald-Steele with quarterly visits to assess the property and advise the owner of issues present in the courtyard. A private gardener maintains the courtyard on a regular basis cleaning, pruning, and planting whenever necessary. With the evaluations from McDugald-Steele and the regular maintenance from the gardener, the space is kept updated and quite attractive. Maintenance costs, on the average, were reported as $180 per month (Stasik, Michael, Personal interview. 2004)(Proler, Mrs. Herman, Personal Interview. 2004.)

Photographs.

Post-construction, 1990. Photos courtesy McDugald-Steele.

Current photographs, 2004. Photos by author.

View from living room

View of present condition

View from bedroom

View of maintenance nook

View of arbor beams

View of reflecting pool

View from maintenance entry

View toward household entryway

Site Plan.

User Analysis. The perceptions of the site by the main users, in this case the owners and residents, the Proler family, are ones of satisfaction. The airy feel and added light are the most dominant features noted by the owner. The only negative aspect of the courtyard noted is the issue of added plant debris and the necessary removal of leaves and debris from the pool. Otherwise the owners are very pleased with the design and placed a great deal of value on their courtyard, primarily on how restful and green the space is and how soothing the water feature is; necessary elements to their perception of a successful space added to their home. The only future plans for the courtyard are to slightly increase to level of maintenance currently being performed on the site (Proler, Mrs. Herman, Personal Interview. 2004.)

Peer Reviews and Criticism. The courtyard design and installation has provided McDugald-Steele with an Award of Excellence in Design of Constructed Projects by the Texas Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1991.

Criticism. The only criticism by the owner/user was one that is expected when more plant material is added to a space; more plant debris is introduced to the area. The owner understands this and the level of complaint was extremely minor. Also minor but related, is the one complaint that the landscape architect had about the site. Previously, McDugald-Steele was not overseeing the maintenance regiment of the other entity involved and due to the increase of plant debris a drain was allowed to go without cleaning for a while and the replacement of a pump was necessary (Stasik, Michael, Personal interview. 2004.) Neither complaint actually relates much to the courtyard’s design and is a reflection on the importance of continuing maintenance to important projects as time passes. Overall, the space has fared extremely well over time. Only minor blemishes such as cracked flagstone and the effects of algae in moist areas separate the current site from the results of the collective effort thirteen years ago. The absence of the aquatic plants and fish appear to be a design decision by the owner and is the only change apparent from the original design. Plants have matured and a few have completed their life cycle which demonstrates the foresight the designer had of the space for it to be just as beautiful today as it was right after completion.

Significance and Uniqueness. The uniqueness of the project may not be obvious to those who do not know the effort involved in transforming a swimming pool into a reflecting pool one-fifth its previous size. The contribution this project has made to the professional knowledge base is significant especially as a construction example for the industry. The surrounding community can appreciate the project’s success as the value of their neighbor’s home increases with the increase of the courtyard’s sustainable environmental impact and aesthetical appeal. In the end a terrific and cost saving solution adds to the profession and the society the profession caters to.

Bibliography and References.

Texas Chapter American Society Of Landscape Architects- Landscape Architecture Award

Winners Archive- http://aslatx.tamu.edu/Result1Bio.asp?abbr=91prwc

Personal Interviews: Michael Stasik, McDugald-Steele, Houston, Texas

Mrs. Herman Proler, Owner, Houston, Texas

Contacts for Further Information.

Benjamin Brown, author of case study

browntreedesign@netscape.net

Michael Stasik, project landscape architect

McDugald-Steele

Houston, Texas

713.868.8060