Peter Wyburd of Intex Design is a pioneer in the design of gardens, swimming  pools and outside structures in Australia, and has been deeply involved in this field since the late 1960s. Peter is widely travelled and has designed gardens in Europe as well as in Australia where his territory extends along the east coast from Queensland to Tasmania. He was the first garden designer from Australia to exhibit at the world famous Chelsea Flower Show in the early 1980s. Prior to that he contributed to some of the first books on the practical side of landscaping in this country. He is also a member of the Royal Horticultural Society in London.

Peter says, "I think there is little dispute about the principles of good design. Unless the object is only for 'show', it has to be considered in a practical and honest way and not just for how it is supposed to look. What is the use of a brilliant design for something we aim to use in life, if it doesn't work in practice?

So, function before form should be the rule. In residential garden or house designs it is imperative to bear this in mind because most of us live with the result of someone else's design ideas. And who among us has not been disappointed or upset with what we are sometimes expected to put up with?

Next we have to think of how to make the functional design interesting and harmonious, not only for the present, but in perpetuity, too. I believe the first answer to that is relatively simple and goes to the question of linkages; in other words, trying to link each of the various elements to each other - shapes, heights, spaces, materials, water etc., and most importantly the plant material - in an interesting and consistent way. Initially of course I try to show this in plan form, but once the garden is built I believe the internal logic of the design should become visible to all. In some cases the links may not be immediately apparent to even those who have spent some hours in the garden, but in time they will begin to see the reasoning behind the ideas.

I like to consider the design, with its format and materials as the stage, and the plants as the players, which in conjunction with the design create the atmosphere, the sounds, the colour, the life and the scent in an ever-changing and absorbing way"

What we do:

In residential work, we have a particular interest in how houses and gardens work together. After years of experience we have found that garden design sometimes reveals limitations in a house's design and consequently the question of the integration of the two becomes important. In house design, thinking often concludes at the outside of the walls of a house, whilst in much garden architecture it finishes in the same place - unfortunately few think to look in or out of windows to find out what they will see on the other side. And, of course, once the two entities are thought of together, the question of interior design becomes a consideration too - use of rooms, placement of furniture, colours, materials, views through windows to see the garden, or for light, or to monitor a swimming pool from a kitchen for example. We aim to bridge all those gaps.

Lastly, Intex Design has many years of experience in the construction or renovation of gardens and houses and can help with the practical side of taking a design through to the completion of the whole project.

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