SUN, WIND AND SKY

With hardy, textural, sun-loving plants, this rooftop garden thrives even when left to its own devices.

- Elizabeth Wilson

Sunsets are magical in Klaus and Anne’s Sydney rooftop garden. as golden light spills onto their sky-reaching terrace, the grasses light up, the Melaleuca tree shines and the city lights twinkle. and when the breeze picks up – as it nearly always does – the whole space ripples and gleams with colour. “There’s continual movement in the garden,” says Klaus. “It’s a very dynamic space and very restful to watch.”

This bird’s eye location is a dramatic change of scenery for the couple, who downsized four years ago, when they swapped a family home on a 2000m² block in a semi-rural suburb for a fifth-floor apartment in the city. For 15 years, they’d enjoyed a sprawling bushland garden but the empty-nesters were beginning to find the upkeep burdensome. They set their sights on finding a city pad with some form of outdoor space, so were thrilled to discover this apartment in Sydney's inner west, which includes a rooftop garden in its title. They bought it off-the-plan within an hour of hearing about it.