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‘TIER-FUL’ PROJECT FEATURING VERSA-LOK RETAINING WALLS WINS
FIRST-PLACE NATIONAL DESIGN AWARD
March 1, 2007
Jim Christensen’s award-winning landscape design for a rural
Wisconsin residence will bring tiers to your eyes, but that’s a good
thing. Christensen, senior landscape architect for
Villa
Landscapes in Oakdale, MN, won first place in the Interlocking
Concrete Pavement Institute’s National Concrete Paver Design Contest
for his stunning multilevel design of a backyard in the St. Croix
County countryside.
A large paver patio featuring a pair of circular patios overlooks a
broad expanse of farm fields and anchors the lower level of this
complex. The twin patios—one a sunken fire pit with tiered seating
around the edge and the other a raised dining area—are partially
ringed with freestanding walls and create a pleasing symmetry on the
landscape.
The lower patio area is connected by a walkway to a massive
three-tiered series of gardens of various shapes and sizes on the
other end of the house. Filled with colorful plantings, the gardens
are bisected by offset stairs that weave between them with landings
at every level. Freestanding columns capped with natural stone
accent each landing. Stepped serpentine walls wrap around the end of
the house and tie the tiered garden complex back into the slope of
the yard and the driveway above.
“This is a magnificent site that begs for taking advantage of the
wide open spaces,” says Christensen. “The twin circular patios
provide comfortable gathering areas while the spacious patio around
them offers plenty of room for other activities.”
At the other end of the yard, Christensen says, “We had to tame a
slope to allow for a gentle, stepped transition between the lower
patio and the garage and house above. Instead of straight tiered
walls and stairs, I opted for a more sculpted look by offsetting the
stairs and landings and adding some curves, corners and columns. As
a result, the entire structure has much more visual appeal and looks
less imposing.”
About 2,000 square feet of VERSA-LOK Standard retaining wall units
in a chestnut blend color were used for the walls, raised patio
base, columns and stairs throughout the project. Nearly 2,000 square
feet of Willow Creek paving stones in a matching chestnut blend
color were used for the paved surfaces—Circlestone for the sunken
fire pit and raised dining area and random-pattern Cobblestone for
the remaining paved areas.
“The flexibility of the VERSA-LOK wall product makes it an easy
system to design with,” explains Christensen. “With one unit you can
design a plethora of elements—retaining walls, freestanding walls,
planters, benches, columns, stairs. There’s really no other
retaining wall system that can do that.”
Christensen notes that the ability to match colors between walls and
paved surfaces made Willow Creek the natural choice for paving
stones.
“Willow Creek’s quality is consistent in color and durability and is
an excellent complement to VERSA-LOK’s appearance,” says
Christensen. “Together, they are a nice pallet from which to work.”
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