Individual Impact 1: Case Study
The Norfolk Project
REIMAGINING OUTDOOR SPACE FOR A YOUNG FAMILY
Client Wishlist
Client Wishlist: Landscape Design, Palate-driven Farming, Soil Management, Construction
Project Timeline: 3 to 5 months (and now ad hoc projects)
Client Wishlist: Design, Landscaping, Productive Garden, Outdoor Living, Resale Value
Project Timeline: 6 months (with ongoing management services at client’s request)
What Circlefoot Created: When a young family approached Circlefoot to turn their outdoor space into an oasis, Circlefoot took up the challenge. We designed a multi-use outdoor space with both living and non-living systems.
These include a drought-resistant garden, an edible landscape space with an annual produce garden, and a flexible outdoor-indoor kitchen and entertainment area.
Circlefoot thought through biophilic elements. The green living wall transitions to a shade sail which in turn transitions into a kitchen that opens into the garden harmoniously.
Our clients could not have been more than pleased with Circlefoot’s outdoor-indoor design and construction. The Circlefoot team enjoyed seeing our youngest client (3 years old) try out her tricycle on the newly paved pathways that replaced an unstable and unsafe surface.
The family now has an increased living space of about 30%, which also adds to the resale value of their property—something they’re considering as their family expands.
Circlefoot transformed our outdoor space into a true oasis for our family!
“Circlefoot transformed our outdoor space into a true oasis for our family! When we moved into our home, all the hardscapes needed major repair and the yard was wild and overgrown. Even thinking about how to start the project was overwhelming – until we met Diego.”
“He and his team shepherded us through every aspect of the massive project, from design through construction, and pivoted cheerfully when we changed our minds or needed to cut costs here and there. We asked for things that included an outdoor living room,” “a playspace for our daughter,” and “a garden of native plants. We couldn’t be happier with the result.”
– Tim & Tenley M. San Mateo
” Our land, our spaces, and our homes are places that are much more than just dirt under our feet or a roof over our heads. They are the backdrop to our lives where we raise our families, rejuvenate our bodies, minds, and souls. This is where we work, play, and love.
Our spaces are sacred, and they should resonate and encourage health and well-being. This looks like spaces that have incorporated biophilic design and non-toxic materials. The space should help to ground us, and root us in place by celebrating life and encouraging wildness and beauty. “
– Latitude Regenerative Real Estate
”Home is a place for one to be restored.“
– Diego Torrelio, Circlefoot Founder & CEO
Theme:
Wellness Communities who build regenerative spaces together.
Project Timeline: 3 to 5 months (and now ad hoc projects)
Circlefoot Bucket List
Circlefoot imagines a street, or better, a neighborhood where fences are knocked down and where all properties are connected in a cohesive, thriving ecology. Some ways to achieve this include:
INDIVIDUAL IMPACT 3: CASE STUDY
Bill’s Homestead
SPURRING COMMUNITY GIVING THROUGH A SMALL SUBURBAN HOMESTEAD
Bill discusses his landscape transformation by Circlefoot.
Client Wishlist: Landscape Design, Palate-driven Farming, Soil Management, Construction
Project Timeline: 3 to 5 months (and now ad hoc projects)
What Circlefoot Created
We have partnered with a homestead owner in San Mateo, CA who has been micro farming his 6,000 square foot lot since 2012. Our client was looking for guidance to create a productive landscape design for fresh produce, flowers, herbs, aromatics and fruit trees.
Raised vegetable planter with mixed greens.
As an avid do-it-yourselfer, our client engaged Circlefoot as a consultant and we worked with him when the project called for additional help. We created a regenerative system to manage his homestead, starting with soil rehabilitation and management and water systems for rainwater, greywater harvesting and drainage solution.
We replaced an old pergola with a new shade structure while preserving the 50 year-old wisteria plant and its beautiful blooms. We built a large composting receptacle, a tool shed, and several raised wooden planters to make cultivation easier.
Regenerative Impact Beyond the Project
Our client was so inspired by the work on his own homestead that he started a nonprofit called Grow San Mateo to bring cohesion to local urban and suburban gardening.
Today the organization produces and shares a variety of produce, flowers, medicinal and aromatic herbs as a community. They have also organized to donate their excess production to less fortunate neighbors in San Mateo.
Grow San Mateo – An inspired community of homesteaders sharing surplus
”Circlefoot helped us transform our tired yard into a climate
friendly, food producing garden.“
– Bill S. San Mateo
COLLECTIVE IMPACT 4 TAKING IT FURTHER
Thinking Study
ECOLOGY FOR REGENERATIVE IMPACT
”Strategic disturbance is the catalyst to ecological innovation.“
– Joel Salatin, Regeneration Farmer
Theme
Ecosystems where neighbors can connect, create together and share surplus
Circlefoot Bucket List
Circlefoot imagines time and space inspired by the Ohlone tribe that lived on these lands. We work in harmony and evolve with nature to cultivate food for our families and share the surplus with our neighbors and other living creatures. We connect with our livestock and the wildlife and work with them to cohabit in mutually beneficial ways. We work with the watersheds and the fog and wind patterns, and the seasons to create homes and spaces that build with nature, not against it.