Indoor wall around atrium

[Skara]

Hi All,

I live in the south west of Australia in a city called Perth and currently have a quirky home built around the early 80, I say quirky as it has an open roof atrium right in the centre of the house which is pretty cool when it rains/hails. Current design is from the previous owners and I'm looking to possible gut it and start fresh and I'm looking for ideas? the current decking is laid wrong with the ridges up so the timber under it will be rotten. I was thinking of dropping the height about a foot and having a more earthen surface with possible some natural rock stepping stones with a small fountain opposite a bench of some sort. I do have an established palm as you can see however im 50/50 on whether to keep it.

I do need to replace the glass as it is not safety glass and the exterior timber is starting the break down (its been 40 years after all) so I might be looking at opening it up with the ability to walk through?

anyhow ideas would be appreciated and possible plant selection, I do like Japanese gardens however I don't think that would work in my climate.

Thanks

Damien

 

[redback]

Welcome Skara, I'm from Adelaide but don't have landscaping qualifications. The obvious thing is to get a landscaper in to look at the problem.
I would ditch the timber flooring in favor of a paved base ensuring a drain is installed first. I would look at making one or two of the walls solid instead of replacing them all with glazing. Place the planting against the new blank walls and the walk-through paving against the glass walls.
Planting is kept fashionably simple nowadays. Perhaps one high element, one mid-level and one ground cover. Perth is famous for its indigenous plants so kangaroo paw, and native wildflowers could work.