Damoon Beach Garden

Overview

A private garden at Damoon Beach on Kish Island, designed as a series of outdoor rooms: an entry walk, a shaded seating terrace, a lawn and a cactus garden. Proshat ArcStudio designed the landscape and managed the project.

The challenge

Kish has a hot, humid island climate, with strong sun and salty air. A green, thirsty lawn-and-hedge garden would struggle there and cost a lot to maintain. The garden needed shade, privacy and a sense of calm, using materials and plants suited to the conditions.

Approach

• Hard landscape first. Low white rendered walls and planters set out the spaces and reflect the heat, and large-format paving and stepping stones over white gravel guide movement through the garden.
• Plant for the climate. Palms, agaves, cacti and other drought-tolerant species give structure and texture with low water demand.
• Small green, used deliberately. A single oval lawn becomes the garden’s centrepiece instead of its default surface.
• Screens for privacy and shade. Black vertical slat screens enclose the spaces and cast moving shadows, and umbrellas and a cabana provide places to sit.

Key learnings

• In a hot climate, the most sustainable garden is often the most architectural one.
• Contrast between white walls, dark screens and green planting does most of the design work.