Water Harvesting Sanctuary

About the Project

Location: Calgary
Project Duration: Six months
Skills: Planning and design, sub-contractor management, water harvesting and irrigation, concrete and masonry, steel work, landscaping
Suppliers: Azimuth Electric, Precision Plumbing, Mountain View Building Materials, The Fence Store and Sure Built Construction

A client in Calgary’s Pump Hill neighbourhood hired OnGrowing Works over six months to construct their dream landscape. The client wanted to transform their yard into a peaceful and serene sanctuary by combining a cutting edge design with exceptional craftsmanship. Because the client was part of Calgary’s Horticultural Society, it was important that the best landscaping practices were used to create a space where they could celebrate their love of gardening and entertaining. They wanted to ensure visitors could naturally navigate through the space while enjoying its beauty, but most importantly, they wanted all visually pleasing elements viewable from various locations within their home so that the landscape could be enjoyed regardless of whether they were inside or outside. We were hired to:

Adapt an existing design by adding water harvesting elements
Hire and manage subcontractors
Construct the entire design which included:
- Installing a creek and water harvesting reuse system to capture rain water from the home’s roof and integrating the existing above ground capture
- Installing an irrigation system that used harvested water for bed areas
- Forming and pouring concrete walls, two concrete water features and a concrete patio overhanging the pond
- Integrating custom corten steel elements in two features
- Building a 40 foot curved timber trellis pathway and a 30 foot wood retaining wall along neighbouring property
- Creating a traditional Japanese tori gate
- Installing planting beds and landscape lighting

Originally, this outdoor space didn’t include a water harvesting system, so we designed and installed one that ensured minimal municipal water use. The system was exceptionally complicated because we had to determine how water was collected, where it was held and how it would be used, all while maintaining adequate water levels throughout the entire system. To maintain levels, we included sensors and floats that triggered a cistern to release water when levels were low. However, the greatest challenge was ensuring that this system was esthetically pleasing, while also irrigating the entire property. To achieve this, we hid all water harvesting components within the water features and other custom carpentry entities.

In addition, precision was needed to form and pour the unique concrete walls and cantilever pad that resided over the water feature. The concrete walls and steel element created a round gate that surrounded a ‘Pom Pom’ Mugo Pine. These concrete features were critical to creating a relaxing space for the client, and the utmost care and attention was needed to exceed expectations.