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There is a level of tradition and heritage in how a garden is pieced together.
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WHEN GARDEN DESIGNERS Kieran Gilbert and Suzanne Webber started spending more weekends with their horses in the Mary Valley, they decided it was time to make way for younger architects to take over their Brisbane practice and move their design studio to a rural location. The couple loves spending weekends in Amamoor riding their horses. After they had planted gardens on the property where their horses were kept, the idea of working from the Mary Valley more regularly was born. Kieran and Suzanne had come to know the locals and they enjoyed sharing their knowledge to help others solve problems in their gardens and properties. They were asked to resolve issues such as an overgrown cottage garden, or how to add colour to a dry and dusty property, or about the best plants to tolerate sea salt air closer to the coast. “We were spending hours back in our Brisbane studio, researching and designing gardens for the local area. That’s when we realised that our great loves, horses and horticulture, were coming together and it was time,” says Kieran. Born in Ireland, Kieran has been designing for many years. “I saw my first set of blueprints for our family’s new barn and stables when I was 12 years old and I was intrigued,” he says. “The collection of perfect curves and straight lines on paper transformed into a building that anchored our lives to the farm, to our horses we loved, and it still stands today.” Kieran’s career includes time in London and Sydney where he worked across design and construction, teaming up with exceptional architects in London on buildings and interiors. Today, he remains passionate about incorporating timeless elements such as stonework and classic architecture into clients’ garden designs. “I firmly believe that the masonry and architecture of natural materials such as stone and timber anchor a garden to a moment in our clients’ lives in a way that a garden entirely of flowers simply cannot do,” he says. Suzanne’s creative career began in her home town of Brisbane, where she trained as a hairdresser. Her skills took her to Melbourne, LA and London, where she achieved tremendous success – her work appeared on the cover of Vogue. It was when she was setting up a salon in Sydney that her path crossed with Kieran’s. “One day this woolly-headed Irishman walked into my salon
looking for a haircut. We got talking about travel, horses and our design studies. I was studying horticulture at the time,” Suzanne says, adding that Kieran had recently graduated after studying furniture design and stone masonry. Following two years of haircuts and friendship, the two entrepreneurs joined their creative forces and returned to Brisbane where they have been designing, consulting and establishing beautiful gardens for the past 20 years. “We’ve been very fortunate in Brisbane,” says Suzanne. “Our clientele has been primarily word of mouth. We’re beginning to see that same response in and around the Sunshine Coast now. Clients invite us to their homes following a friend’s referral and it’s a tremendous compliment. “They see our designs come to life in their friend’s or neighbour’s gardens and they realise that we’re much more than a landscaper.” Suzanne says they offer a highly personalised garden design service. “Our one-hour consultations are hugely popular with clients seeking garden design ideas and expert horticultural advice to help them problem solve areas of their gardens.” “There is a level of tradition and heritage in how a garden is pieced together,” adds Kieran. “But it’s also very much about innovation and creativity.” The team is distinctly design-led. “There have been so many changes in the design world over the past 30 years,” Kieran says. “We spent 15 years using CAD, but found traditional hand sketches and watercolour bought the concepts to life, allowing our clients to engage with the design. “We both have design boards and enjoy sketching by hand, but thanks to three-dimensional modelling advancement, we’re also able to create digitally so we do a combination of both.” A popular feature of their service is the three-dimensional design modelling. Clients can take a custom-designed virtual tour of their site, immersing themselves in their new garden from every angle. While their passion for horses is as strong as their love of design, Suzanne and Kieran still have plenty of creativity for their business. Which is just as well for the garden owners of the Mary Valley.
suzannewebbergardendesign.com.au SALTMAGAZINE.COM.AU
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