Private Garden Kapellen

This property north of Antwerp is historically called “De Wilden Hoek” (The Wild Corner). It is 9ha and went through a history of uniting, subdividing and reuniting. The classical plant palette of the region is flourishing: beech, Scotch Pine, linden, oak, birch, but also the colonising Rhododendron ponticum, sweet gale, willow, etc.

This private garden in Kapellen is developed within forested boundaries to the north, south and west, which protects it from street noise and neighbouring houses. The conditions to obtain a building permit contained the restoration of the aging boundaries with new material. Some interesting trees were present on site like an alignment of Liquidambar, and a lot of interesting specimen shrubs in the south forest f.i. Hamamelis, Azalea, Pieris and Kalmia groups.

The natural mixture of formal elements around the houses and a more naturalistic language in the open landscape come over as very spontaneous and merging well. The circular pond functions as a visual gate way between the two houses, as the perspective is pinched by the larger tree groups. This tension between the loosely historically implemented features is a very pleasant experience, and the sequencing between open and closed spaces a true discovery ride.

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