This Week at Wyndham
In 2013 we started work on the Wyndham Worldwide Corporate Headquarters courtyard, a garden space which joined the new building with the existing building on the corporate campus and created many private and public spaces for Wyndham’s 2,000+ employees to enjoy.
Centered around a natural water feature with four waterfalls, the garden provided beautiful outdoor eating areas under two pergolas. Natural stone seat walls provided additional seating within the private nooks of the garden which allowed employees to work outdoors (with wifi of course). The circular lawn provided a meadow space where you can kick off your shoes and go barefoot to the benches set at the garden’s edge.
The Cording team was so excited to work on a garden that can have a positive effect on over 2,000 people a week! It was like creating a garden for each employee, a place for them to escape the confines of the office cubicle and still be at work.
The original plan!
Cording’s stone craftsmen hand tool granite to construct the first seat wall at Wyndham.
After completion of the first seat wall the crew begins crafting the wall that is located along the central walkway. This wall will provide one of the main viewing areas of the courtyard’s water feature.
As the second seat wall is completed we begin to backfill and plant that part of the garden.
We picked out the perfect boulder to become a very important seating option in the courtyard. Our crew carefully installs it in its new home.
A birds eye view of the space – we are getting ready for the first delivery of plants to arrive!
Plants have arrived! Arborvitae, Cherry & River Birch are unloaded and awaiting their turn to be planted.
Several Arborvitae and a transplanted Cryptomeria are strategically placed to create privacy from the parking lot.
It’s beginning to look like a courtyard! The center portion of the project includes (4) 4.5″ caliper Musashino Zelkova, a mature transplanted Katsura Tree, and a 5″ caliper Skyline Honeylocust tree to give scale to the grandiose feel of this space.
With the continual installation of plant material, outdoor rooms are being created throughout the space. We love how the Winter Gem Boxwood enhance the circular lawn area!
Excavation of the water feature has begun!
This week at Wyndham, we received 5 deliveries, totaling over 8,000 square feet, of Techo Bloc ‘Blu’ pavers from Braen Supply. The site is prepped for hardscaping and the first paver is laid!
The water feature, being constructed by Marson Pools, is progressing full steam ahead! Excavation is complete – steel & forms have been installed to create the shape and depth of the pools. Gunite is next.
Gunite was shot on Saturday! The dry gunite (sand and concrete) mixes with water and forms a wet concrete material sprayed around the previously placed steel. We will now wait several days for the concrete to cure and then apply a smooth plaster finish.
Gunite has been applied to the water feature, pavers are making their way through the courtyard, hydrangea and roses are in full bloom.
The plaster in the water feature is curing while we continue installing the paver walkways. Next up is sod!
Lawn circle is complete!
Before and After
The Wyndham courtyard water feature is beginning to take shape. We received our delivery of hand selected boulders and now the fun begins!
Another paver patio nears completion at the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters.
Work is progressing on the water feature at the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters courtyard! Boulders are carefully chosen and installed to replicate a natural rock outcropping.
We have started installing the ledge and coping stone in the water feature at the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters.
Perennials are in bloom at the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters – even on a cloudy day!
Natural bluestone tabletop set on a granite boulder to provide seating options at the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters courtyard!
A birdseye view of the progress at the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters courtyard!
We have water! The water feature is up and running at the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters courtyard.
Light fixtures from Sternberg Lighting are being installed in the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters courtyard.
Cedar timbers were delivered to the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters from Boards & Beams. Posts for the 12’x40′ pergola have been set.
The first pergola at the Wyndham Worldwide Headquarters courtyard is almost complete. We also started planting around the water feature!
A look down one of the pathways. Techo-Bloc ‘Blu’ pavers are under your feet, the water feature is to your left, cedar pergola straight ahead and granite seat wall complete with bluestone cap to your right. Musashino Zelkovas create the corridor behind the seat wall. My Monet Weigela, although a dwarf variety, add color and texture to the space.
The second pergola is up! Lights from Sternberg Lighting have been installed! Pavers are nearing completion as we sweep polymeric sand into the seams! The polymeric sand becomes a binding agent when it has contact with water – which holds the pavers together and keeps weeds from growing between the pavers.
We are all enjoying the finished water feature! New and existing angles and views are introduced as the plant material and light patterns change for the fall.
A new close up of the water feature. We just added a custom bluestone bench to offer more seating options – sit at the table or turn around and enjoy the waterfall! Another great collaboration with Marson Pools!
