I received an interesting phone call early in 2001 from Arnaldo Ruiz, the owner of a new hotel in Rincon, Puerto Rico. He was looking for a landscape architect. That same week I met with Arnaldo and his brother Hector to discuss the landscaping of their new venture, which had just begun construction. Rincon is a small town on the western tip of Puerto Rico. It is known for its pristine beaches, quaint guesthouses and paradores (inns); it is an area where locals and mainlanders go for weekend rest and relaxation.

I imagined this was going to be your classic parador, which would require your basic landscape cure ?EUR??,,????'??+ wrong! Rincon of the Seas was to be a 112-room hotel sited on ocean front property with a beautiful westerly setting.

Arnaldo and Hector were interested in hardscape, aquascape and landscape design. The construction was about six months underway, so we walked the site with the architecture plans in hand to get a better feel for the structure that was underway.

I was to work based on the already approved site plans, which was under construction, so moving parking lots and other structures, as I would have liked, was not going to happen. The site?EUR??,,????'???s main entrance posed another challenge because the access divided a private property, which limited the landscaping off the main road. The ?EUR??,,????'??sense of arrival?EUR??,,????'?? would be limited or nonexistent, so this was an important component to address.

The most important outdoor space of the hotel was the v-shaped courtyard that faced the ocean. The view was spectacular. The day was so crisp and clear that the horizon was brilliantly divided by the perfect blue sky over the dark blue mantle of the ocean.

The courtyard of the hotel would be the heart and soul of this project. This space needed to communicate with all of the amenities, yet be functional.

Here were the essentials to bring together:

• The upper level rooms and lobby area circulation flowed into the courtyard.
• The courtyard spaces were comprised of the ground-level garden rooms; the indoor restaurant and the outdoor caf????(C) adjacent to the restaurant; the pool and bar; the ballroom; and the beach access.
• Seating areas for the pool deck needed to be screened from the restaurant and the ground-level rooms to provide privacy.
• Additional seating areas were needed between the pool and beach, to be placed on a lawn surface.
• The transition between the beach and the pool needed to be controlled for security.
• Shower stalls were needed for both accesses to the beach.
• Provide a mechanical room for the pool pumps, which needed to be close to the pool
• Bathroom facilities

Those elements were the challenges at hand, now I needed to shuffle them within the courtyard and make all this work together harmoniously and aesthetically.

In the courtyard, the guests would experience the outdoors in a relaxed environment of tropical flora: palms, shrubs and colorful groundcovers accenting a meandering path.

Since the ground-level structure was constructed at the time of my first visit, I had a good sense of how these rooms would integrate with the courtyard.

These were the preferred rooms. These garden rooms would have direct access to the different spaces within the courtyard and the view would be like having an outdoor private paradise.

I visited the site about four times after my first visit. By January 2002 the hardscape plans were finalized and submitted for construction. I would be visiting the site regularly to see the progress of the pool and the elaborate sidewalk circulation.

The free flowing, natural approach of the hardscape design was for both accesses from the upper level to pour into one. As the hardscape design was laid out, my consideration was the green areas.

I wanted the hard surface near the garden rooms in a more landscaped environment. The sidewalks near the rooms were reduce to no more that four feet wide; I chose strong organic shapes to create privacy. There is not a straight line in the courtyard hardscape and any view within the plane will eventually be blocked by accent planting.

The central access to the pool is six feet wide and allows for reasonable seating. The pool layout is a continual flow with the pool deck. The pool has a wet bar side and a dry side. The wet/dry bar is a circular design, a takeoff of the ballroom footprint. The bar top is leaf shaped, reinforcing the organic theme throughout the hardscape design.

The covered outdoor caf????(C) was placed in a space adjacent to the restaurant and kitchen for functionality.

I met a third brother, Roberto, the chef who was instrumental in the layout of the wetbar and caf????(C) facilities. The indoor restaurant, the ballroom and pool bar were designed to complement each other; they are adjacent and maintain control of the food and beverage logistics. This also gives the garden rooms a relaxed environment. The pool had 4,560 square feet of swimming area, various water features and sculptures; an infinity edge had to be eliminated due to the budget limitations.

There would be large, open water mass (four feet deep) toward the center of the pool, and one small space for wading. The kiddie/wading area is surrounded by considerable seating area for parents. Although the kiddie/wading area is part of the big pool, the depth is 18 inches and the transition from one area Rincon: to the four-foot area is very gradual and far apart. Towards the beach, the pool edge design depicts a shoreline; this shoreline is a continual bench, which faces the pool bar and the lobby area. The leaf shaped bar has the curve toward the inside of the pool; this causes the wet bar seating space to be larger (approximately 59 feet) and is part of the reinforcement of the curvature shapes of the kiddie/wading pool and the embedded planting area across the bar.

As the hardscape construction progressed I continuously worked on the planting design and fine tuned the budget, plant selection and placement. Specimen material is difficult to find in Puerto Rico, so specification on choice material requires phone work and trust that the material will be reserved for your project. The other important factor is the landscape contractor. For this project, the bidding went out to three companies.

Arnaldo decided on a contractor by the name of Doel Garcia. Doel had the passion we were looking for. His dedication and participation to develop and upgrade the design was definitely a plus. He travels weekly to supervise maintenance personnel who were trained by him. He screened young men with no experience, taught them the basics and made them take a written exam. These young men are also part of the success of this project. I really appreciate contractors like Doel who are dedicated, love what they do, and always there to put out the extra effort.

As we proceeded to install the large plant material, the excitement throughout the construction site was noticeable. When people start seeing the planting it is a sign that things are wrapping up and the construction will soon be over. The planting of the main entry way off the state road started to make its effect felt which is to lead you straight to the hotel?EUR??,,????'???s porte-coch????(C)re. The fa??? 1/4 ade of the hotel is flanked with clusters of coconut palms, native sabal and foxtail palms and a striking 30-foot date palm dressed with a bromeliad collection on the trunk as the focal point. As you walk toward the lobby area you are greeted with a spectacular view. The new planting blends in beautifully with the existing tall palms in the back, and the pool with the darker blue of the ocean beyond.

Hotels are a fun experience and this design brings a sense of relaxation and pleasure. This is what you feel when you first enter the hotel. The exterior and interior design are brought together with the new planting in the courtyard space. These were carefully placed not to block the view of the ocean, so the picture window works out beautifully. The coconut palms were planted close to the garden rooms to frame them. The smaller scale species such as Washingtonia palms and foxtail palms are planted in the center; they don?EUR??,,????'???t block the views but bring out the texture of the plantings. Other spectacular plantings are specimen material: Bismarkia palms, Butia species and a multistem ponytail palm. Other than having a continuous flow of the smaller (lower) plantings throughout the courtyard, careful thought was given to place rare specimens throughout the design for those little surprises, such as the embedded planter of the pool ?EUR??,,????'??+ the specimen palm (Phoenix reclinata.) ?EUR??,,????'??+ which can be viewed from practically from all areas of the pool space. Doel found three beautiful calderas that were to be filled with water to house fish lotus flowers. These were placed in strategic spots and complimented the space wonderfully.

The planting is what brings character and sets the mood of an outdoor space. Once you on ground level and walk into the courtyard from the building the relationship under the canopy is more personal. Here you can appreciate the detail of the shrub and groundcover plantings, in relation to the organic shapes of the sidewalk lines. This combination of the organic sidewalks and lush canopy sounds of the coconut palm fronds fluttering in the wind the view of the mature palm trees in the background, and the horizon beyond provides picture perfect scenery.

The plant material needed to be salt tolerant, hardy and maintenance friendly, as well as provide color and texture. The shrub planting was divided into nonflowering plants and flowering ones. The combination basically was that of planting masses of nonflowering next to masses of flowering. As a whole, you see the splashes of color distinctively. Each garden room has an outdoor retreat. This space was screened by triple-stem palms (Phoenix roebelini) and flowering Ixora and Allamanda shrubs. Between each room there is a circular planting of coco plum shrubs with one triple Veitchia palm as an accent. These two elements provide sufficient privacy between the rooms. Within the courtyard design you will find additional seating spaces placed like cul-de-sacs within the organic shapes. These pockets work very well and provide additional space for an outdoor banquet or artisan festival kiosk. Mostly, these work for the people who don?EUR??,,????'???t want the pool or beach but maybe prefer to read, relax or people watch.

As you walk toward the beach area you will find a planting of large masses of coco plum, sea grape, Allamanda and beach morning glory as ground cover. The coco plum borders the pool shoreline edge and accents with bright red oleander standards. The tall coconut palms are accented with smaller palms to bring down the scale and tie in with the ones in the courtyard. Toward the beach area we planted a native called Maya, a thorny member of the bromeliad family and is an effective natural fence. These were placed in masses to tie in with the sea grape and coco plum to provide a natural security barrier. The sidewalk takes you very close to the beach where the final landing ends in the sand. As you return from the beach you pass the gate and immediately find the shower stalls under a canopy of coconut palms. The bathroom facilities are adjacent to the pool bar and a beach sidewalk.

Sometimes in design there is serendipity. In this project two spaces were born or revealed as soon as they were constructed: one was the mechanical room that houses the pool pumps. This structure was intended to be underground and had to be placed next to the pool. Because of the high water table and drainage the floor elevation could only go so far, and this caused the structure to be about three feet above ground. Although we were able to screen the mass with the coco plum, the roof top was exposed. We suggested a sod roof, but it ended up as a stage for outdoor festivities. On the night of the inauguration, the location of the band and ceremonial activities took place on this structure.

The other discovery was the rooftop of the ballroom. The view up top is spectacular; in this perspective, you can appreciate the whole aspect of the courtyard, pool and ocean all in one. For now, it is an open are seating area which may eventually be converted into another restaurant or add-on to the ballroom. These are things that I love about design, the good surprises.

I had a great experience throughout the phases of this project. The people I worked with were hard working, professional and committed to success. What excites me about this business is the constant transformation. Every time I visit the hotel the landscaping fills in a little more as the plants mature. The real challenge is to create something of this nature and watch the guests enjoy the space. It is a great feeling to see the designs come to life.

Robert E. Pennock BSLA, comes from a long line of landscapers. His great-grandfather arrived in Puerto Rico in 1898, and started a nursery business in Puerto Rico in 1906. Since then, the family and Pennock Gardens have been important and respected names in the industry.