7/2013 – Retaining walls in small spaces

No Space? No problem!

In dense residential areas, space for any landscaping and gardening is limited and a challenge for any developer who nevertheless wants to create a “green” ambiance to the environment. A sloping piece of land with different levels can make a visually interesting garden, but creating workable spaces and access routes can be problematic.

The greatest drawback is that if you want usable flat areas, much of the garden space may be taken up by banks and steep slopes that link them together.  And that is where the beauty of versatile retaining walls – like the Terraforce system – comes in, as they can provide a way of changing levels sharply, which is especially useful if space is tight. Stairways and ramps can be integrated to facilitate quick access to the workable spaces created.

The Terraforce retaining wall system allows planting to be an integral part of the wall, to create ‘living’ structures. Here we showcase two retaining wall projects in high density residential areas that demonstrate a creative use of limited space to provide slope stability and add plant life to the development.

Two possible elevation treatments are featured here, the rounded face alternative, which is well suited to establishing plant cover on the face of the wall, and the flush or rock face option that can be achieved by reversing the blocks. This option, depending on taste, can be used for walls with a very steep inclination without plants or for walls with a shallow angle that can still accommodate plant cover.

Example A

Project Name:  Istinye Park
Client:  Orijin Group
Location:  Istinye / Istanbul / Turkey
Project Description:  Retaining walls in different tracks, length and heights. Smooth face elevation

---

---

---

Example B

Project Name: Tygerberg Waterfront
Client: Charles Potgieter Group
Location: Tygerberg/Durbanville/ South Africa
Project Description: Retaining walls in different tracks, length and heights. Split face elevation.

---

---