Naturalistic, salt tolerant planting is juxtaposed with formal elements such as a paved allee of flowering trees and a hybrid palm screen that veils the main villa within the garden. The hybrid palm screen is composed of different species of palm trees of varied height and character and runs north-south in front of the villa. There is an interplay between the palms and the elevation of the villa that allows for views out whilst also maintaining privacy within.

Due to the site’s proximity to the sea there is a high water table and the water is brackish (slightly salty). This naturally occurring condition is the basis for a brackish ecology within the garden. Here the planting is naturalistic and willowy and is dense so as to frame a sweeping path. A specification for salt tolerant planting was developed in collaboration with Kew Gardens.

The three perimeter buildings, the gate house, the occasional room and the diwanyah, are simple double height spaces each with a smaller scale element within. Conceived as worlds within worlds, they mediate between the scale of the villa and a human scale. Each are situated at the end of one of the key, formal landscape elements; the entry ramp, the palm screen and the paved allee.