Making a Splash with a Luxury Design and Multilevel Space
The Client
After attending the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show, the Meier family fell in love with the landscaping and hardscaping services that Outdoor Innovations Landscaping had to offer. The family desperately needed their retaining wall replaced since it was a staple for upholding their foundation and decking. Furthermore, they wanted to add a luxurious swimming pool and space for relaxation.
Location: Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Project Type: Residential
Timeline: 2 months
Before
After
The Challenge
The biggest challenge was needing to replace an old failing timber retaining wall that was holding the foundation and decking in place, but the Meier family didn’t have any ideas on how they wanted to move forward. Replacing the retaining wall was a difficult task because the OIL team didn’t want to damage the structural integrity of the Meier family’s backyard space and they wanted to find a design that worked—but they had no starting point for direction.
Another huge challenge was accessing the backyard and workspace. It had an extremely narrow entrance and was very steep, proving difficult to get tools and materials into the space. Nonetheless, the Outdoor Innovations team found ways to work around it.
The Solution
Since the Meier family simply wanted a solution but had no starting point for ideas, they gave the OIL hardscaping and landscaping team full creative freedom to figure out a design. The designer for the project offered three architectural options to choose from that fit the steep yard space:
- A fully lifted area where everything was on one level
- A double, multi-level space
- A triple, multi-level space
Ultimately, the Meier family chose the second option—the double, multi-level space. To solve the retaining wall problem, the project architect and designer on the project at Outdoor Innovations Landscaping came up with a plan to build a new retaining wall with sturdy recon blocks that offered better performance than the previously used timber materials.
The Results
Despite the project’s tight turnaround of merely two months, the OIL team was able to accomplish the initial goals and more. The Meier family was extremely happy and absolutely loved the results.
The project turned out even better than expected. Even amidst the structural challenges, the team was able to stick to the initial design and get the project done quickly. A luxury pool was created, complete with a pool deck. Beautiful, durable retaining walls were made with recon blocks to add support and ensure the yard stayed in place. A privacy fence was installed along with other landscaping elements to pull everything together.
With the new landscaping improvements, the Meier family was able to enjoy their swimming pool and golf course view from the privacy of their home—without having to worry about their retaining wall structure holding up. They loved the results that the design team at Outdoor Innovations Landscaping created and built.
