The Oaks Garden brings together a collection of garden spaces that animate the enclosed Atherton site. Set back from the quiet residential street, the architecture is surrounded by drifts of grasses, yarrow, rudbeckia, and a canopy of existing oak trees that cast shadows on the concrete feature walls at the façade. Arcs and circles are the subtle refrain in this residential retreat.

Collaborating closely with Aidlin Darling Design, Surfacedesign integrated garden moments using a palette of rich material texture and drifts of exuberant planting that complement sculptural elements of the architecture. A steel beam element encircles an existing oak and cantilevers from a low concrete wall that provides a horizontal datum at the street. The cast-in-place concrete façade feature walls and louvered central core serves as an abstract backdrop for a grouping of reclaimed local boulders. Native and low water plants sweep between bioretention areas and upland meadows that flank the entry to a gravel and stone drive.

If the public-facing side is informal and bucolic with its expansive meadow drifts, behind the house offers discrete garden rooms and circuitous paths through a celebration of woodland planting. A floating deck hovers over the reflective pool. There are several seamless connections between architecture and landscape: a koi lounge, a fern garden that migrates from interior to exterior, a sunken garden with sculptural terraced water feature, and terrace lounge. The koi basin, with water lilies and other aquatic plants, passes through the house under a glass walkway.