WATER POINT RESIDENCE
ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
PROJECT STATUS | IN PROGRESS
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The site is in Water Point, an exclusive residential area with villas in the East End of St. Thomas, not far from The Ritz Carlton Hotel. The building design is a three bedroom home by architect Scott Natvig, from S.A.N.D., Los Angeles.
We were asked to engineer soil and planters along the driveway, in the pool terrace and intermediate spaces, a long linear planter siding the lap pool to avoid railings, as well as to create a planting scheme that would be appropriate for the site. Here are ideal images of wild, dense landscape conveyed by the architect in his preliminary presentation renderings
SITE CONDITIONS
The site, which faces south, has been ravaged by storms over the years and shows very little soil cover, creating a difficult environment to establish from scratch a dense coastal woodland. On the cliff, the dominant landscape is the typical dry-cactus landscape with wind-swept plants of Coccoloba diversifolia, Melocactus intortus, Philocereus royenii, Lantana involucrata and Jaquinia bertii, among others drought and salt tolerant plants.
EXISTING SITE PLAN
The site has many constraints due to existing slopes, superficial bedrock, and setback requirements. The proposed driveway was rather steep to walk down and up easily to the house, and its location in the center of the site would have destroyed the only stand of trees of a certain size, some of which were still relatively small but very old and difficult to replace. For us, it was imperative to propose a driveway that would use the eastern side setback, which only had cacti, in order to diminish the change in grade.
The rendering shows the large retaining wall needed to carry the driveway in the center of the site to the desired finish floor elevation of the building, which was set and could not change. Slopes of 40%-50%, such as these, are not unusual in S. Thomas, but that does not mean they should be emulated and should be avoided whenever possible.
DRIVEWAY OPTIONS
Here we present several concepts aiming to strike a harmony between environmental conservation and functional design. Each option explores ways to decrease stormwater runoff speed and soil erosion, while preserving existing trees, native species, and pedestrian accessibility.
The first alternative shows the proposed driveway slightly bent to save a large tree but still not adequate for pedestrian use, and still impacting many native species existing on site that could be saved. We added an ADA ramp to the left and steps to the opposite side, attempting to create a walkable path for guests who want to park above in the common cul-de-sac and arrive by foot.
The second alternative reuses the large arrival turnaround courtyard originally proposed, moving the carport to the opposite side to develop a longer, more easily accessible driveway. More trees can be saved, but still, a lot of paving in the back of the house at the main entrance is not ideal.
The third alternative suggests a much shorter layout for the driveway with gentle slopes, starting to develop the possibility for a garden in the back of the building, saving existing trees, and decreasing the albedo effect by reducing the amount of impermeable paving.
The fourth alternative was the preferred concept by the owner, which was later developed and refined further in the final drawings. It acknowledges the existing topography and the need for steps from the carport to the house to reduce earth movement.
DRIVEWAY REVISIONS
A further development of the new driveway by S.A.N.D. involves shortening the length and increasing the slope. In this revision, we are showing the height of retaining walls that will be reintroduced if the driveway follows this grading plan. Small planters may be designed to decrease the apparent height of the driveway wall in some areas. A long but appealing flight of steps and the relocation of the carport are shown here. The building position and FFE have not changed, as desired.
CONCEPT PLANTING SKETCH
CONCEPT IMAGERY
PRELIMINARY PLANTING DESIGN
The project design is underway. An updated tree survey in the middle of the site is still necessary to identify all the existing trees to save and work with before we can finalize the planting plans. These plans are complemented by a preliminary plant list for smaller trees, shrubs, and ground covers being proposed. Images of the suggested plants are shared with the owners to give them a sense of what we are proposing, in order to obtain feedback and approval before creating the final construction drawings.
