Three Ponds Residence
A variety of lighting types - glowing boxes, fire, and tree uplighting - activates the yard at night.
Once low spots on the prairie, suburban ponds and sloughs are now being asked to handle runoff from streets and yards. This has a profound effect on water quality -- as seen near one Twin Cities home by differences in algae growth in ponds with different abutting uses.
Though the homeowners liked being surrounded by these wetlands, they didn’t like the summer green-up of the one out their back door. They also wanted a better division between their backyard spaces and the wild areas just beyond. In addition, a city-mandated wetland buffer reduced the useable back yard to just a fraction of the lot.
Treeline, in collaboration with Shelter Architecture, chose to highlight that natural/political boundary -- and also make a local statement about sustainability -- by tracing it with a linear stormwater treatment facility called the Greenline.
Inside the Greenline is a contemporary composition of sunken fire circle, concrete patio, stone circle highlighting the preserved-in-place “mountain rock,” wooden seating/light boxes, and lawn. Outside is the wetland.
The Greenline itself is a simple construction of local aggregate, geotextile fabric, planting soil, and native common rush, which creates a bold edge to the residential space. It stores and filters all the rainfall from the rear yard and the back half of the home’s roof during 1” rain events (90% of the annual rainfall for the home’s location).
The Greenline, a combination aesthetic and environmental element, is a design that frames outdoor space for the homeowners and improves the health of the adjacent wetlands.