The two projects featured in this issue will change the way you think about outdoor spaces. I know they expanded my own view of what an outdoor space can be. They are the winners of the new Outdoor Spaces category that we inaugurated in the 2007 Custom Home Design Awards program. Our judges thought these two projects were extraordinarily creative. I think they start this new category off on a particularly high note.
In both projects, imagination trumped a problematic site: one is hilly, woodsy backyard and the other an industrial rooftop. One solution preserves and takes advantage of the site’s natural vegetation, the other employs the clever use of manmade materials. But both achieve the same end—a beautiful, functional outdoor space that enhances the client’s home. They prove, I think, that you can make wonderful outdoor spaces even in the most unpromising circumstances. You can see them in the feature that starts on page 39.
And if you think rooftop spaces are just for edgy inner-city projects, you should take a look at the three rooftop pools associate editor Shelley Hutchins found. The designers and builders of these projects went to great lengths—or should I say heights—to overcome the limits of a small site and give their clients the pool they desired. “High Water” begins on page 10. Jump in.
