Climbing wall design

Perched at the edge of Tank Hill in San Francisco, California, this garden is an exploration of prospect and refuge—both nestling into and perching above the dramatic topography it calls home. In San Francisco, project size is limited by the high cost of living and the city’s topography. This Tank Hill site was embedded in a hillside with a steep, wooded backyard, offering limited outdoor options for its young family. To increase inhabitable space and maximize natural light, Surfacedesign carved into the hillside to create an intimate backyard garden inspired by the client’s affinity for rock-climbing and sculpture. The architectural planes of the retaining walls that structure the garden are explorations of the essence of... More