LANDSCAPE CONNECTIONS

Architecture is an art of relationships—to people, to seasons, to weather, to the path of the sun and to the surrounding landscape. For that reason, JLF Architects’ house projects, which often include elaborate water features and habitat enhancement, ideally integrate with landscape architecture.

Above left: To cultivate an internal focus for this California home, courtyard gardens were created. Above right: This classic home in Pennsylvania was built to retain connection to the old growth forest and rolling hills with lush landscaping that focuses the attention to outdoor living areas.

Embracing a Design-Build philosophy means that architecture doesn’t begin and end with a floor plan. We strive to create a fluidity of materials that blur the lines between indoor and outdoor spaces. One signature approach is to redefine the way a home interacts with its surrounding environment by designing bridges that span water features while providing functional indoor space, visually connecting to the landscape via glass curtain walls. We often incorporate the same materials of a structure inside and outside, decreasing the separation between the two. As a result, the structure melds with the flow of a stream rather than diverting it and the transition from inside living spaces to outside living spaces becomes seamless.

In the Rocky Mountains, we often work with Verdone Landscape Architects, based in Jackson Hole. In keeping with our JLF approach, VLA designs draw upon colors, textures, materials and forms that are indigenous to the region.

Anchoring the home toward a view of the pond that is created by two creeks that converge on this Wyoming property cultivated an intimate connection between architecture and the natural environment.

This home’s design bridges the water literally and figuratively so that the structure becomes a part of the landscape.

By collaborating with sensitivity, landscape and structural architecture can respond to factors on a site that help balance the built and natural environments. We create connections that enhance habitat whether it be to a forested property, water features that add sculptural form to a garden, or to a delicate riparian area that integrates with a home.

The sound of running water pervades the experience of this Wyoming residence. Verdone Landscape Architects incorporated the native grasses and stone from the region to create modern features that enhance the living spaces inside and out.

We are inspired by scenic beauty so that its influence affects our designs beyond the classic architectural approach. The JLF team works to honor the places where we build houses. Nature is never an obstacle, but truly an adornment. Integrating architecture and the landscape reveals the honesty of the effort to create a work of art.

Conscientiously siting this home in a delicate riparian zone that included a large stand of aspen trees and natural streams resulted in an intentional melding of people and place.