Landscape Design

An attractive and safe landscape projects a postiive image of a school and encourages parents, students and the community to have pride and interest in their school, and to have a strong sense of ownership and community.  

Spatial Definition
The landscape can be used to define spaces and activities such as areas of movement, play and out of bounds areas.  The landscape treatment reflects the areas’ use and assists in guiding the use and behaviour patterns of students.

Climate Control
Appropriate landscape treatment contributes to a comfortable micro-climate both within buildings and in external areas. Examples include: shading of building facades, external shade, and wind break planting.

Social Benefits
The landscape design, in particular planting, can have a positive psychological effect on the behaviour of students.  The landscape can support a variety of activities by providing a range of settings that allow students to engage and interact with each other.

Learning
The landscape can add to, and support the school curriculum, by integrating with outdoor learning spaces and facilities, to reflect an increasing acceptance of the benefits of outdoor learning including developed imagination and social interaction, opportunity for expanded environmental knowledge and engagement, team building, planning, play and fun.

The following section outlines design principles that apply to every school, and in every zone of the school.

Design principles are grouped under four headings:

• A healthy and safe landscape  
• A sense of place                      
• A sustainable landscape
• A low maintenance landscape 

In all instances, the design principles need to be balanced with other design requirements including the site-specific brief, stakeholder and authority requirements and budgetary constraints.

This section provides the design principles to guide the creation of a sense of place within the school environment.

Specific areas addressed by the principles are:

• The local context
• Landscape character
• The educational landscape

1.  Local Context

Aims

• Integrate with the landscape and architectural context so that the school becomes part of the community.
• Contribute to the street character and amenity.
• Provide definition to a variety of inviting and usable spaces.​

Strategies

• Where possible, provide street tree planting that continues the street planting theme, to achieve a consistent outcome along the street. Provide a unique identity for the school by using distinct mix of plant species that complement the school surrounds. Refer to the School Plant Palette for suggested species and also to the local Council to determine if a street tree master plan is in place to ensure continuity to surrounding streets.

 
The landscape design is complimentary to the architectural context of the site.

• Anchor the school in its built environment context by referencing local plants, building materials, rhythms, textures and colours in the landscape design.
• Consult with the Architect and design team to achieve cohesive landscape spaces between buildings and siting of buildings to respect existing landscapes.

 The orientation of buildings and the lack of landscape treatment result in a poor street address for this school.

2. Landscape Character

Aims

• Integrate existing established vegetation into the landscape design as a means to enhance the visual character and amenity of the school.
• Provide a distinctive and attractive environment. The repetitive nature of school architecture can lead to a level of homogeneity irrespective of location. The landscape provides an opportunity to individualise schools and provide a memorable landscape setting.
• As much as practical, retain existing trees and habitat, for inclusion in the school landscape. They are key elements to a specific local character and provide important shade to external areas.

 
An example of a site-specific solution to stairs and handrails. Bold colours and distinctive forms provide a unique identity. (South Western Sydney Region)

Strategies

• Retain and protect existing trees. They are landmarks and often provide gathering points within the school. They also help reduce the perceived scale of new buildings.

 
This tree is a landmark feature within the playground and provides shade and a focus for gathering.

• Avoid disturbance to and construction within the root zone of existing retained trees. The root zone generally extends beyond the drip line of the crown. Disturbance to the root system can be caused by compaction due to stockpiling materials, parking of vehicles, cutting or exposure of roots and changes in ground level, including placement of fill in excess of 100mm. Refer to AS 4970-2009 Protection of Trees on Development Sites.

 
This building responds to the existing Smooth-barked Apple (Angophora costata). (Chatswood Police Station)

• When work in the vicinity of an existing tree cannot be avoided, an arborist will need to be engaged to provide expert advice on how to best manage the tree (throughout the construction and in the long term), to ensure long-term tree health and viability, as well as student safety. This includes an assessment of possible changes to their environment (soil levels, water table and root disturbance). Reports produced by the Arborist must be provided to the contractor and be kept on site throughout the construction as a reference document.
• Implement a regular program of tree management and maintenance practices based on the advice of the Arborist..Where disturbance to the root zone cannot be avoided altogether, seek advice from the Arborist as to what works can be undertaken within the Structural Root Zone.  As a guide the Structural Root Zone can be measured as (SRZ = 5 x DBH (Diameter of trunk at Breast Height)).  Avoid earthworks within the Tree Protection Zone (TPZ = 10 x DBH) surrounding retained trees, unless recommended otherwise by the site arborist.

 
New buildings and structures in this school have worked around existing trees to take advantage of the amenity it provides. (TAFE, Western NSW)

• Use advanced specimens selectively for aesthetics and early effect. This will need to be balanced with budgets and potential longer establishment periods.
• Use smaller stock in areas that do not require an instant landscape. Young, small plants generally establish quickly and are more likely to thrive. They more readily adapt to local conditions and grow quickly to result in a healthy, vigorous landscape.

 
Dense planting stabilises this embankment, minimises weed invasion and provides an attractive interface.

• Investigate planting types, sizes and techniques that support the successful establishment of the school landscape for example protective fencing and surrounds to avoid damage from students and pests such as rabbits.
• Identify opportunities for custom solutions to site specific issues, to distinguish the school from other schools.
• Give preference to endemic (locally native) species or use other native or exotic species that suit the local climatic and rainfall conditions, as well as the specific site conditions.

3. Educational Landscape

Aims

• Provide curriculum opportunities for education through the creation of appropriate spaces for outdoor learning.

 Outdoor classroom (Manchester)

• Provide a landscape that is stimulating and provides aesthetic benefits and enjoyment for the senses: sight, sound, touch and smell. 

Native gardens planted around gathering spaces. (South Western Sydney Region)

• Foster an awareness of sustainable food production and positively influence the food choices of students.
• Provide opportunities to learn about natural systems through the provision of areas for environmental education.
• Provide opportunities for play in unstructured, and unprescribed natural settings.

Strategies

• Develop the landscape design so that outdoor rooms of varying character, form and size are provided. These should facilitate formal and informal outdoor learning opportunities and be able to accommodate a variety of tasks and group or individual learning. The landscape should not be seen as purely aesthetic, but as an extension of the learning spaces that have been provided in the classroom.

• Provide kitchen, herb, fruit or vegetable gardens as an opportunity for students to connect and engage with the cycle and process of growing food. They allow students to participate in growing, harvesting and preparing of fresh food, fostering an understanding of food production as well as natural processes generally. Consider the location of gardens relative to other facilities such as kitchens, water access, tool sheds, composting areas and vehicular access.

Vegetable gardens (Branbourne Farm Kitchen Garden)

 
Raised vegetable garden (Sydney Region)

• Set aside areas for environmental education. These could be either existing areas on site, or newly established. Suitable areas include creeks/ponds/wetlands, groves of trees, embankments and rockeries. Use species, and combinations of species, that provide examples of natural systems and processes. Refer to the School Plant Palette via Related Resources for plant species that are suitable for attracting birds, butterflies and other wildlife.

School grounds can provide opportunities for students to learn about natural systems.

• Consider establishing a weather station with basic environmental measurements that can be regularly monitored for example temperature, rain gauge, wind direction and barometer.
• Provide opportunities for imaginative play and the chance to explore, discover and connect with nature. This can increase awareness of natural systems and the environment. Integrate natural elements such as stone boulders, fallen logs and areas of mulch, gravel or sand, to provide stimulating free play areas

 
School grounds can provide opportunities for imaginative nature play (Sydney Region).

• Include plants that stimulate the sense of touch through the selection of plants with varying leaf forms, bark and flower texture. An example is the contrast between the smooth trunk of Scribbly Gum - Eucalyptus haemastoma and the rough fissured bark of Red Iron Bark - Eucalyptus sideroxylon. These two tree trunks also provide contrasting colours.

 
Contrasting bark colour and texture

Include plants and combinations of plants that stimulate sight through contrasting colours. For example, large beds of mass planting of varying colours contrasting with the trunks of trees and the seasonal presence of large bright flowers.

• Allow for the experience of different sounds by using plants with a variety of leaf forms, and attract a variety of birds. Tree foliage can have distinctive sound effects in the wind e.g. Casuarina. Consider providing complementary elements such as wind chimes. 
• Use aromatic plants in appropriate, strategic locations to provide a range of different fragrances in the landscape. Refer to plant palette for fragrant plants. 

 
Contrasting foliage colour and texture

• Consider the provision of sensory gardens as an opportunity to develop the senses: touch, sight, taste, smell and sound. These garden spaces also provide opportunity for a variety of surface finishes, such as gravels, rocks, timber and exposed aggregate concretes. Consider also wind chimes, mirrors and wind sculptures that will stimulate the senses. Such gardens also provide attractive passive or 'break-out' spaces for quieter children. Consider seating areas within these garden areas. 

 
Sensory Gardens provide opportunities for developing the senses. (Kultur Garten, Berlin)

The principles for an easily maintained landscape aim to ensure that ongoing labour and upkeep costs associated with maintenance or repair work are kept as low as possible.

Pedestrian Movement and Wear and Tear

Aims

• Reduce the potential for unsightly, worn or eroded areas by designing to cater for desire lines and by providing appropriate hard-wearing surfaces of sufficient width to cater for the expected number of students using each area
• Provide for generous width of pavements in high use areas.

Strategies

• Address desire lines during the design development process and locate hard-wearing surfaces accordingly. ​

This path caters for desire lines by leading directly to the building. (Western Sydney)

• Provide a hierarchy of surfaces with each surface material suited to the level and concentration of student use and associated potential for wear and tear and erosion. Turf is suitable for low use areas or where use is spread over a wide area. Materials such as concrete, asphalt, unit paving or soft fall surfaces are required in high use areas or where student access is restricted to narrow, small spaces.
• Address transitions between surfaces. In spill out zones and narrow connections consider the most suitable transition from hard paving to grass.
• Consider path intersections and change in directions with adequate transitions to avoid short cutting and wear and tear of adjoining soft landscape areas.
• In selecting materials, give consideration to the slope of the land and the flow and movement of water across it. 

Pests

Aims

• Minimise the risk attack from pests through appropriate materials use and installation techniques
• Provide ease of visual inspection to allow for early detection of possible pests​

Strategies

• Keep dense vegetation clear of building edges to improve ventilation and chances of termite detection.
• If the risk of termite infection is high or where otherwise required, use termite resistant materials and details known to assist in the prevention of termite attack. Timber must be naturally termite resistant or treated in a way recognised as giving termite resistance.
• Note that the use of certain methods of treatment such as Copper Chrome Arsenate (CCA) treated timber is no longer appropriate in the school landscape, due to potential adverse health effects.
• The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has placed restrictions on the use of CCA treated timbers and states:
  • CCA timber cannot be used in garden furniture, picnic tables, exterior seating, children’s play equipment, patio and domestic decking and handrails.
  • The detailed instructions for timber treatment operations, waste management and disposal and protection of the environment are met
• Test existing retained trees for termite activity, and implement appropriate treatment if required.
• Carefully select plants that are not prone to attracting insect and pests.
• Install pest barriers to aide establishment of planting i.e. temporary fencing or plastic plat surrounds to limit damage from rabbits and other vermin.

​Integration with services design

Aims

• Integrate landscape design with the design of services infrastructure.     

Strategies

• Collaborate with services engineers to ensure services are located in areas that do not prevent the establishment of an attractive school landscape, in particular the provision of shade trees.Conversely, the landscape design should not hinder access to services for maintenance.
• Where possible, gas and electricity meters and street connections should be integrated with features such as school signage or walls, or disguised from prominent access points and public views, through the use of planting or other means.
• Service covers should abut hard edges and / or be  incorporated into paved areas. Drainage pits in or near planting beds can easily become obstructed with mulch and plant material, creating maintenance problems and overflow/flooding situations.
• The design of landscape planting and structures must take into account the requirements and limitations of (service) easements.

Maintenance

Aims

• Design the school landscape to require minimal maintenance generally. Higher maintenance requirements may be appropriate in public areas such as the entrance and assembly zones.​

Strategies

• Turf species must be carefully selected and located. Investigate different types of turf to suit specific locations e.g. shade tolerant on southern sides of buildings, slow growing in boundary and out of bounds areas, hardy in active areas. Ensure that turf areas are of a size and slope that are easily accessible for maintenance.
• Design turf surfaces in large simple areas, minimising sharp corners and fragmentation by services and paving.
• Design turf areas to allow for management of turf for “rest” periods on a rotation bases, this may be helped by having easily distinguishable zones.  Consider the use of synthetic grass materials in high use zones, shaded areas and other spaces where the growth of natural turf is problematic.
• Garden beds should be designed to add form and colour, define spaces and desire lines and to provide shade. Garden beds should not be used to simply fill narrow or awkward spaces, or tapering corners, due to the high maintenance requirements and associated costs. 

This garden bed is a simple shape and the plant selection complements the contemporary style of the school building.  (South Western Sydney Region).

• Design garden beds that are simple in shape, and of sufficient area to allow for mature established plants. 
• Ensure garden beds are appropriately edged to allow for ease of maintenance for mowing / trimming of adjoining grass areas
• Beds that are raised or isolated from the ground water are prone to drying out and should preferably be minimised or provided with irrigation where possible.
• Bed widths of less than one metre should be avoided due to the risk of drying out and plant failure.
• Ensure that garden beds do not obstruct desire lines. 
• Space plants so that the soil is covered and shaded by the end of the establishment period. This utilises the natural tendency of plants to out compete one another for ground space and light. By the same principle, weed removal after the establishment phase should be followed by immediate infill planting where required.
• Space trees to allow for ease of access between trees for ride on mower, push mower or slasher in order to avoid accidental damage.
• Use plants that provide a natural mulch or weed suppressant in areas of low use. Install plants in sufficient numbers (density of spacing) that will ensure full coverage of garden areas avoiding empty patches were weeds may establish.
• Select and locate plants to ensure that they will not overhang paths or obstruct passageways.
• Consider the maintenance implications of trees in grass.  Mowing or whipper-snippering around the trunks can cause ring barking or infestation by pests and diseases which can effect the health and structural safety of the tree. 

 

These trees planted in turf have a mulch surround to protect against mower damage (Sydney Region).

• Avoid creating wear zones from children regularly seeking shade. This can cause the grass or tree to fail, as the ground surface becomes compacted. Potential solutions are mulch around tree trunks and provision of adequate alternative shade throughout the school grounds.

 
These trees are protected by tree guards.  (North Coast Region)

• Seating or garden beds around trees are a means to avoid excess wear and compaction around the root zone.
• Consider the need for tree protection to prevent the risk of damage or vandalism until trees are established. Examples are the use of tree guards low height fencing or planting around trees and garden areas.
• Work with the hydraulic/ storm water engineers to ensure that overland flow of water is not impeded.

Potential for Damage

Aims

• The school landscape must not cause damage or exacerbate maintenance problems to school buildings or neighbouring property.​

Strategies

• Carefully select tree species to ensure that the mature form and habit are suited to their location and will not cause costly long-term damage to buildings, walls, pavements or other structures.
• Consider the potential adverse impacts of species on their surroundings. Ensure appropriate setbacks from school buildings, services, roads and neighbouring properties. Problems include unwanted screening, overshadowing, leaf fall blocking gutters and pits, and fruit drop staining pavement.
• Select and locate plants to ensure that they will not overhang paths or obstruct passageways.
• Use root barriers to services where appropriate to prevent root invasion.