The outdoor terrace was intended to function as a both a retreat for employees that delivers restorative and private enclaves with seating, as well as an event space that showcases their astounding NYC skyline views.

The terrace's double floor height offered a unique opportunity to feature the garden's plan view from the upper floor common areas. The resulting palette merges visually with the green ribbon of parks below, including the Highline's, "Hudson Yards" section.

The client's intentions to celebrate the site's natural and cultural assets generated multiple concepts including cubist inspired parterre gardens that referenced the new neighborhood’s revolutionary architecture, as well as a tiered, modular planter concept inspired by their building’s unique detailing.

The High Line’s experiential zones were used as a guideline for our own path through the terrace, creating noticeably different feels through unique palettes and specimen species to echo the winding forest below.

High Line inspired Corten steel planters and custom riveted hammered planters feature distinctive under story combinations found in the High Line's, "Flyover Zone."

These slabs were sourced from an inland Sequoia tree that was located in Oregon on public school property. The tree was removed due to its naturally falling branches for the safety of children. Sequoiadendron giganteum are the some of the most massive trees on Earth and among the oldest living organisms.

Careful analyzation of site lines and garden proportions maximized the quantity of seating alcoves and destinations within the garden's articulated layers. Dynamic palettes, representative of the Highlines Zones below deliver a composed controlled wild aesthetic that achieves programmatic order and diversity of experience amplified by seasonal delight orchestrated by design.

Landscape as representation methodology creates an interior plant palette that directly connects visually with the exterior terrace garden palettes beyond the window. Large foliage Ficus are used to represent the unique native magnolias on the terrace and in the Highline, while a cluster of Fernwood and moonshine snakes evoke the meadow drifts on the High Line upper loop, visible from the window.

Ponytail palms and birds nest ferns soften the modern story of an interpretive interior woodland with carex and grass-like layers ideal for featuring floral rotations with seasonal reference.

Planters directly relating to pixels, by patterning them in a ‘Tetris’ and boxy fashion, link the landscape to the high-tech company.

A Norfolk Pine emerges from a custom Corten planter with a graceful drape that celebrates the open circulation surrounding it and is reminiscent of the towering and pioneer hemlocks and junipers similarly underplanted with carex and fern in the Highline below. The recycled railroad track successfully transfers the garden concept indoors and with a scale reference that makes the planter a miniaturized, High Line landscape.

Custom design live edge Sequoia Benches, featuring repurposed steel I-beam legs, deliver a nested alcove to reflect on the city skyline while screened from interior views by a redbud and witch hazel cover that will arch into an organic cave with training.

Precise 3-D Modeling and variety specific illustration confirmed that the designed proportions and intended experiences on the terrace would maximize the site's scale while creating both intimate and programmatically versatile outdoor rooms/spaces.

A leg was added to this bespoke bench to assist in concealing an outdoor speaker later requested by the client.

Initial concept sketches became renderings featuring true nursery specimens, to empower client approvals and achieve immediate design scale intentions that complement the space upon installation.

From sketches to models to renderings, the plan was precisely calculated to accurately fabricate the landscape keeping both logistics and stylistics in mind.