Our Approach

Restorative Landscapes

Restorative landscape design is built on basic human experiences with natural conditions. At its core restorative design creates moments to feel the warmth of the sun, watch the flight of a hummingbird, or hear leaves catching the breeze. These are primal experiences lost to most urban dwellers as the built environment continues to encroach on natural resources and open spaces

 

Increased urbanization and population growth have led to increased levels of stress and new pressures on daily life where personal satisfaction and traditional social interactions are becoming more difficult to achieve. Even the smallest of restorative moments are critical to maintaining our connection to nature, improving our physical and mental health, and creating communities.

Natural systems and green strategies in restorative landscape design have a broader impact. Improved permeability for stormwater capture and filtration, carbon offsets from increased urban forests, and encouraging biodiversity through plant material selections and healthy soils recharge highly urbanized environments and communities.

The duality of restorative landscape design balances human connections with natural systems, increasing the link between us and the environment. For BORDER, our design solutions maximize these opportunities, regardless of project type or size.

Restorative landscape design is traditionally found in open spaces like parks, planned communities, or botanical gardens, however, multi-family communities, lifestyle centers, commercial office space, and hospitality projects located in more urban areas should, and need, to include restorative landscapes.

Cities are severely lacking in restorative spaces, but are prone to limited storm water infiltration, heightened pollution levels, lowered air quality, and increased mental and physical health challenges. Our focus on bringing the romance of the garden into our urban-infill projects is more than an idealistic notion, it’s responsible stewardship of our environment.

 

We’ve been fortunate to partner with like-minded design teams on Southern California projects including TO Ranch in Thousand Oaks. The landscape vision anchors itself in the foothills of Canejo Valley and builds on the natural and cultural history of Thousand Oaks restoring the site from a decades old surface parking lot to a network of landscape areas of active and passive recreational uses. Residents and visitors are immersed in the native landscape of the region through winding pathways, seating areas, and discovery gardens.

At Bridge Housing’s latest Jordan Downs project, we’re designing a new affordable housing and open space project to create new community spaces for neighborhood gatherings, outdoor recreation, and amenities for the entire family. Tree lined streets, garden paseos at walk-up townhome unites, and planting designs built around water conservation and increasing pollinators.  

In both projects, shade trees in courtyards cool paving areas, reduce glare, and decrease air pollution making time spent outdoors more frequent and relaxing. Creative combinations of plant materials in a viewing garden reduce stress and anxiety while giving pollinators the fuel needed to create food. Seating pockets in urban gardens offer a place to work-from-anywhere, wait for a ride-share, or take a deep breath after a long day while nestled in an outdoor green room. And increased infiltration through increased planting areas and permeable paving surfaces reduce storm water run-off and wasted resources.

 
 

Make Something Beautiful™

Our design process focuses on elevating the human experience in the built environment through restorative landscapes to provide our communities and clients with environments that improve daily experiences and reaffirm our connection to nature.

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Our newest team member, Darren Shirai