Landscape Newsletters - Landscape Articles - Landscaping Hints and Tips

Meadows Primary School Project

Dec
30
2011

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

The Meadows Primary School site was formerly home to Meadowbank Primary School which merged with Campmeadows Primary School to form one school.

The building was designed by NOWArchitecture and is registered for a Green Star Education rating, targeting a 6 star rating.

The school enjoys a passive hydrothermal air conditioning where the high raking ceilings allow hot air to rise above activity spaces and exit through upper louvre windows, providing excellent thermal comfort and air quality. Thermal buoyancy expels hot, stale air and pulls fresh air, which has been cooled by the sub-floor water tanks (supplied by KHD), in through floor grilles.

The project won Best New School in Victoria from the Council of Education Facilities Planners International.

KHD has supplied products to many award winning projects.

Clifton Hill Railway Project

Dec
20
2011

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

Clifton Hill project with Bluestone and Stone Clips supplied by KHD The Clifton Hill Rail Project began as a key transport initiative to duplicate the railway track between Clifton Hill and Westgarth Stations. The result of which was an opportunity to deliver a landscape that stitched together the Merri Creek environs, a new rail bridge, pedestrian and cyclist needs and the local community.

Designed by Jeavons Landscape Architects, the project was awarded the 2011 AILA Victoria Landscape Architecture Awards for Urban Design.

KHD supplied Stone Clips and Landscape grade Bluestone billets. The billets were installed vertically and fixed to the concrete substrate using adjustable Stoneclip. The tops of the billets were left in their natural state giving a dramatic rustic effect.

KHD has supplied product to many other award winning projects.

Green Wall – International Examples Singapore

Dec
9
2011

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

Green Roof Landscaping Design Australia This Green Wall is featured at the Rendezvous Hotel, Singapore.

The Green Wall is 85 square metres, 35.4 metres long and 2.4 metres high. The curvature (concave wall) poses no problem for the Elmich Green Wall system as it is installed in modular sections. Any minor gaps have been covered up with plants.

If you would like to know more about how to incorporate a Green Wall into a project, why not contact KHD to organise a private briefing.

Green Walls – Local Examples

Dec
9
2011

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

KHD Landscape Enginnering Solutions recently partned with Event Landscaping Solutions to erect a Green Wall at the 2011 Caulfield Cup Carnival.

The temporary landscaping and garden displays installed around the Heath marquee village at the Carnival was greatly enhanced by the addition of a highly successful portable green wall, supplied by KHD and built by the team at Event Landscaping Solutions.

The mixture of several forms of Lamium, bronze Carex and native Violets proved to be very effective and quick way to grow plant material for this type of temporary wall.

Better still, the feedback received from the corporate clients was extremely complimentary.

If you would like to know more about how to incorporate a Green Wall into a project, why not contact KHD to organise a private briefing.

Green Walls – International Examples

Sep
22
2011

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

Green Walls are growing in popularity and KHD are proud to showcase a number of high profile International projects on their new website.

A green wall is a wall, either free-standing or part of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and, in some cases, soil or an inorganic growing medium.

Green walls serve a number of benefits for a building, these include:

Added site value
Improved heat insulation
Reduced sound transmission
Enhance air quality
Reduced storm water run off

If you would like to know more about how to incorporate a Green Wall into a project, why not contact KHD to organise a private briefing.

Yorkstone – More Popular Than Ever

Sep
8
2011

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

Yorkstone is a tight grained, carboniferous sedimentary rock which nown for its hard wearing and durable qualities.

KHD supplies reused Yorkstone paving, salvaged from churches and other sites that are over 400 years old.

This stone is highly sought after for its naturally weathered surfaces.

Also, Yorkstone is also the historic paver of London.

KHD have supplied this stone for a number of years, however the strong AUD has made it more affordable. Drop us a line to discuss further.

Landscape Grade Bluestone

Jun
22
2011

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

When Caroline Robinson from ‘Greenbits’ was searching for stone to complement one of her landscape projects in a prestigious suburb of Melbourne, her first port of call was KHD and it was clear that natural stone should be used.

This inner city location demanded a product that added value and provided depth. Landscape grade Bluestone which has more character and veining than traditional A Grade Bluestonex was called upon to answer the brief.

One of the advantages of using natural stone in a residential or commercial project is demonstrated here. Natural stone adds a unique design element that cannot be easily reproduced.

Landscape grade Bluestone is ideal for pavers, feature walls, water features and various applications around pools. It also offers all the slip and scratch resistance of A grade Bluestone and, like any Bluestone, is hard-wearing and provides a lifetime of enjoyment.

The landscape grade Bluestone price points are also very appealing.

KHD supplied paving, steps and garden bed features which are shown here.

Landscape grade Bluestone is a popular choice for high end design projects.

Keep in touch –
If you would like further information about the KHD range of natural stone products then drop us a line here.

Smart & Environmentally Friendly Paving Solutions

May
2
2011

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

Open outdoor spaces and decked areas are becoming more popular across a variety of projects.

At KHD, we are proud to present our Paver support range to support this growing trend.

Versi Jack

Versi Jack is a simple and easy to install telescopic pedestal system that increases air ventilation, reduces sound transmissions and has the ability to run services through the decked area such as environmentally friendly LED lighting.

One of the major advantages of Versi Jack® is that during the installation process, the membrane is not penetrated in any way. Which reduces the long-term likelihood of hard to fix leaks.

Versi Pave

Versi Pave is a lightweight paver support designed to eliminate the use of sand when laying pavers, resulting in reduced weight-bearing loads on building structures.

Versi Pave also allows the easy placement of pavers such as granite, marble and precast concrete where a well-drained and level surface is required.

Spira Pave

Spira Pave is a new high strength pedestal consisting of separate paired components to create pedestals of different heights.

The system is also adjustable in height from 20 to 87mm making it ideal for installations where conventional supports are impractical.

Spira Pave may be used in conjunction with a slope corrector, which compensates for slopes of up to 5%.

Keep in touch –
If you would like further information about paver supports or our natural Stone range, why not visit our showroom or drop us a line here.

Sandstone – Ideal for Stately Homes & Gracious Projects

Feb
11
2011

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

KHD is proud to announce that Dunkeld Sandstone is now available as part of it’s prestigious range of natural stone.

For many years now, home owners and Architects alike have embraced Sandstone in the design of stately homes. It’s timeless beauty is shown here.

Sandstone is a sedimentary stone, made from sand, that has been fused with a cementing element like clay or quartz. Its high silicon content and natural soft texture makes it easy to work. A pleasure for all involved.

Dunkeld Sandstone, now available at KHD, is ideal for -

Retaining walls
Paving
Pool capping
General Architecture
Walling

The elegance of Sandstone is often understated. Do you have a project coming up where a versatile stone application is required? If so, then look no further than Dunkeld Sandstone.

Dunkeld Sandstone is also available in three colours -

White
Red
Cream

Water Tanks & Air Ventilation – A Model Project in Melbourne

Nov
22
2010

by KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions

Meadows Primary School in Melbourne’s North West is undergoing a major redevelopment. Now Architecture has designed a world-class ground coupled ventilation system using a series of Elmich underground water tanks supplied by KHD.

This extensive ventilation system is thought to be a first for Australian design and the sheer scale of the project is also attracting International attention. Delta T, a prominent engineering journal in the UK has profiled the project. Roderic Bunn, the author, provides a well-balanced opinion and overview of the job.

So how does the system work?

In essence, a number of school buildings are being constructed over foundation beams created by sealed underground water tanks. Ventilation pipes cross the water tanks carrying air drawn from the outside. The ground temperature, at 2 metres deep, is a constant 15 degrees Celsius all year round. The air is then tempered by the water providing cooling in summer and raising the temperature of external air in winter.

The physics of the system has been checked by CFD modelling and Now Architecture are confident that the simulations will stack up in real life. The underground tanks not only mean that recycled water can be stored and used for toilets and gardens, it is not taking up any land space in the children’s play area.

An additional environmental benefit was that 300 cubic metres of concrete was not required for this job.