Chickens Live Here! Marrickville

“Chickens Live Here” nestles into a tight Marrickville terrace block, where renovation offcuts—bricks, timber, and sandstone blocks—were salvaged and reimagined as integral design elements. Inspired by the bold textures and geometry of Roberto Burle Marx, the garden balances structure with abundance: sub-tropical foliage, local native species, and flowering perennials spill over raised garden beds, close to the kitchen for daily use.

Brick pavers stretch and dissolve into a matrix of no-mow lawn and low-growing groundcovers, blurring boundaries between hard and soft ground. In the garden’s wilder rear corner, original sandstone blocks from the home’s foundations are restacked in a climbable, sculptural formation—part seat, part play, part ruin—backfilled and edged with dramatic vertical grasses and lilies to create a moment of intrigue and spatial lift.

A loft net hovers above a tangle of foliage in the rear garden—a child’s aerial perch, or a quiet place to dream. Beneath it, a dense and textured understory responds to shifting light and shadow. Raised beds in irregular geometries and the soft anarchic self-seeding of nasturtiums and poppies contribute to a space that is both exuberant and thoughtful, responsive to climate and memory. The garden makes space for play, for growing, and for storytelling—alive with chickens, colour, and care.