At the "Lions' Gate" residence in the St. Louis metro area, the path south from the kitchen garden terrace leads to the pool and pool house. The perimeter of the kitchen garden includes teak benches and planting beds of woody plants and perennials, as well as areas for growing cut flowers.

The Lions' Gate residence was inspired by the owner's love of Southern France, and their desire to have their primary residence include design elements experienced and enjoyed from their travels abroad. Planning Design Studio designed the formal site layout, landscape and design elements in response to the owner's input. True to the name, lion sculptures and motifs occur throughout the site.

The residence, pool, pool house and formal gardens are approximately centered east to west and slightly north of the center of the nine-acre site. Site topography slopes gently to the south toward an adjacent creek. Numerous existing mature trees were saved and supplemented with heavy buffer plantings at the perimeter of the site for privacy.

The entry gate plantings include "Green Velvet' boxwood, "Green Giant' arborvitae, "Sixteen Candles' summersweet, "Sunburst' St. John's wort, "Girard' azalea, "Big Blue' liriope, English ivy and native oak trees.

Site function is organized by vehicular and pedestrian areas, each containing key design elements designed and organized to meet the owner's vision. Vehicular areas include the gated drive, north car court, east car court and guest parking. The pedestrian areas include the north terrace, south terrace, kitchen terrace, kitchen garden and the pool/pool house. The remainder of the site consists of landscaping, open lawn, a natural style pond with a floating fountain and heavy perimeter buffer plantings.

The custom pool has a shotcrete core, wall tile and a natural stone deck and wall copings (Heartstone).

Vehicular Areas
The entry gate walls are cast-in-place concrete with a textured and colored finish. This cost efficient, durable material is simple, yet elegant in appearance and complements the ornate gate. Dense plantings extend from the gate to the street. The density of these plantings provides the look of a mature landscape. Once through the gate, the exposed aggregate drive with concrete accent banding meanders through some of the mature oak trees on site.

The meandering concrete accent banding ends at the car court entry. Two prone, life-size cast stone lions on concrete pedestals flank the drive, which terminates the low car court enclosure walls.

Cast stone lounging lions flank the entry to the north car court. The geometry of the cast-in-place insets/relief and quoins of the column reflect the car court geometry and the arched dormers on the residence windows.

The centerpiece of the car court is an ornamental fountain surrounded by colorful plantings. The fountain walls and basin/riser were purchased prior to the design. Incorporating these stand-alone components into an integral fountain design was no easy task. The fountain centers on the east-west axis of the entry drive and the north-south axis of the main residence entry. This formal axis carries through the house to the south terrace reflecting pool and terminates with the floating fountain in the small pond to the south. The car court uses precast concrete pavers with the look of natural stone. The paving was designed using a natural laying module internally surrounded by a three foot wide formal boarder area to organize the paving into six geometric patterns within the car court. Traffic circulation, including fire truck access required by code, is accommodated around each side of the fountain.

Cast stone lions are throughout the site in various forms and scales. Cast stone lion masks and cast stone rope edging (both from Haddonstone) are used on the gate columns and finials to reinforce the project name"?u"Lions' Gate."

Formal plantings and turf areas surround the car court to enhance the sense of space and scale of the area. Garage access and guest parking are at the east car court. The east car court has exposed aggregate concrete and concrete accent banding similar to the entry drive. The overflow parking area incorporates grass pave, a choice made to reduce paving and increase permeability. The east car court is bordered by mixed buffer plantings.

The modular pavers (Belgard's Mega-Lafitt) at the main entry have the textured look of cut flagstone. The north terrace balustrade (Continental Cast Stone), cast stone planters and volutes ('Fiore' Stone Legends) offer some vertical relief. The volutes create a visual transition from the rail height to the terrace hardscape. "Aristocrat' pear, "Green Velvet' boxwood, "Nordic' inkberry holly, "Big Blue' liriope and "Techy' arborvitae, a clone of the white cedar or American arborvitae.

Pedestrian Areas
The north terrace is the formal arrival space for visitors. The terrace is surfaced in natural stone and accented by cast stone balustrades and cast stone volutes. Plantings are incorporated at the perimeter and within the north terrace area. Cast stone planters are used for annuals.

The south terrace, surfaced with natural stone, provides access to formal parterre gardens. From here are striking views of the pool area, pool house and the natural pond. The central feature of the parterre gardens is the reflecting pool. The custom pool has a shotcrete core, wall tile and a natural stone coping. Four mini-spray jets produce the soothing sounds of splashing water. Planting areas are defined and connected by stabilized, crushed granite pathways.

An ornamental fountain is the centerpiece of the north car court. The car court uses precast concrete pavers with the look of natural stone. The paving was designed using a natural laying module internally surrounded by a three foot wide formal boarder area to organize the paving into six geometric patterns. Fire truck access, required by code, is accommodated around each side of the fountain. The drive continues (background) to the east car court for guest parking.

The kitchen terrace and kitchen garden areas accommodate outdoor cooking and entertainment. The natural stone terrace includes outdoor furnishings. The kitchen garden area provides overflow space for gatherings and centers on a lion motif fountain previously purchased by the owner. Four raised beds for growing seasonal vegetables and herbs surround the fountain.

The east car court has exposed aggregate concrete and concrete accent banding similar to the entry drive. For overflow parking, there's "Grasspave2' (Invisible Structures), a choice made to reduce paving and increase permeability.

The perimeter of the kitchen garden includes seating benches and planting beds of woody plants and perennials, as well as areas for growing cut flowers. The kitchen terrace also offers fantastic views to the pool and pool house. The pool area has cast stone decking and coping for the pool and the spa area. The pool house includes a shower, changing rooms and a kitchen/cooking area. The central area contains a covered seating area overlooking the pool and providing views to the natural pond area.

Special Green Design Elements
The design includes several sustainable features that are not visible in the overall experience of the landscape. The residence uses geothermal heating and cooling to reduce energy usage. All surface runoff from the roof and hardscapes are captured, piped and routed through an organic filter to improve the water quality of stormwater. Runoff that does not infiltrate at the filter is slowly discharged into a vegetated, gently sloped swale within the property, where it infiltrates further. During heavier storms the treated water discharges to the adjacent creek.

This closer look of the north car court fountain looks southwest toward the residence entry. Plantings include "Little Rascal' holly, "Blue Velvet' St. John's wort and seasonal mums.

This view is of the south terrace reflecting pool. Four mini-spray jets produce the soothing sounds of splashing water. The pool house is in the background. "Knockout' roses of various colors and boxwood are the dominant plants in the parterre gardens.

The focal point of the east-west axis of the kitchen garden terrace is the freestanding, lion motif fountain, previously purchased by the owner. Four raised beds for growing seasonal vegetables and herbs surround the fountain. . Plantings here include "Big Blue' liriope, "Green Velvet' boxwood and ornamental cherry trees. The pavers are natural stone ("Silverdale' stone from Earthworks), and cast stone ("Urbana' from Belgard). The walking surface between the pavers is stabilized, crushed "Kafka' granite.