Design concept · Landscape & outdoor
Still Water Garden
A pocket park for a residential compound, organised around a sequence of shallow reflecting pools, shaded seating and planting that invites residents to slow down.
The concept brief
Design narrative
A concept for a 3,000 m² pocket park with reflecting pools in a residential compound in Egypt.
Between the buildings of many compounds sits a leftover patch of lawn that few people use in the heat. This concept turns a 3,000 m² plot into a quiet garden room for residents. Three shallow reflecting pools step gently down the site, linked by a slim stone rill, and are surrounded by a canopy of shade trees, so the garden can be walked through or sat in during the warm months.
The pools are only a few centimetres deep, finished in dark stone so they hold a clear reflection of sky and trees, and set flush with the travertine paving for calm and safety. Benches of travertine and walnut face the water under a light bronze-toned pergola, and planting is layered from grasses to flowering shrubs to mature trees. After dark, low lighting in the paving and the trees traces the pools without glare.
- Nature
- Studio concept study — not a client project
- Typology
- Landscape & outdoor living
- Setting
- Egypt
Design concept · Visualisation
Concept visualisations
Studio reference visualisation — dedicated render in production 
Studio reference visualisation — dedicated render in production 
Studio reference visualisation — dedicated render in production
Materials
Material palette
- Dark basaltPool floors and the rill
- Honed travertinePaving, pool edges and bench bases
- WalnutBench seats and backs
- Bronze-toned metalThe pergola and light fittings
- Layered plantingGrasses, flowering shrubs and shade trees
Key design moves
- 01Three still poolsShallow dark-stone pools step down the site, linked by a stone rill.
- 02Shade before lawnA canopy of shade trees makes the garden a place to sit through the warm months.
- 03Seats that face the waterTravertine and walnut benches sit under a light pergola beside the pools.
- 04Low light after darkLighting in the paving and trees traces the water without glare.
Design concepts
More design concepts
Start your project
Like this direction for your own space?
Every NoVi project starts from your site and your brief. Book a free consultation and our designers will develop a concept for you.
