A 5th floor deck off an artist’s studio

This deck is close to the Panhandle and leads from an artist’s attic studio. There’s plenty of wind, some sun, and the closest water source is three floors below. The plants and materials clearly had to be light weight, sturdy, and exceptionally drought tolerant. To keep costs low, materials such as reclaimed wood, burlap, branches, and metal were sourced from Building Resources, SCRAP, Bayview Greenwaste, and the tenant’s own stash of materials from the natural world.

The railing was made more interesting with the addition of hand-made burlap pouches holding dark red aeoniums. Container arrangements were sectioned off from the walkway with interwoven sticks and twigs, lending a sculptural and natural look that both blends in well while still standing out on the relatively plain deck. There was a seasonal consideration to these containers, too: A dense arrangement of annuals with succulents ensures bursts of bright color from the annuals while the consistent green from the succulents hides the fact that the annuals eventually fade.