HIDE 'N SEEK
YEAR: 2021 – 2023
LOCATION: RIGA
AREA: 4300 M2
DESIGN: MĀRTIŅŠ RŪTENBERGS, ANSIS BIRZNIEKS
A garden designed with just the right balance for a busy, modern family—harmonious, thoughtfully planned, strong in its forms, and seamlessly blending with the surrounding landscape. Alongside its structured layout, it also incorporates elements of wild aesthetics: meadows, clusters of birch trees, ancient oaks, natural undergrowth, and a gently babbling stream in the background, creating a relaxed and natural atmosphere.
This suburban garden, crafted for a modern family, is carefully designed as a dialogue between architecture and nature. The building is positioned at the deepest part of the property, hidden behind an artificially created landscape embankment, ensuring maximum privacy. From the street side, the landscape remains minimalist—massive perennial and shrub plantings set the tone, highlighting a relief-embedded orchard and a blooming meadow in the background.
The driveway follows a smooth, curving line leading toward the house through a meadow-encircled garden area, emphasizing the presence of nature even before reaching the entrance.
The front garden, surrounding the house’s entrance area, is both expressive and functional—enclosed by blooming, seasonally changing plantings that transform the garden’s ambiance throughout the year. It serves both a decorative and practical purpose, separating the driveway and garage from the main outdoor living space. This area also features an artistic metal sculpture dedicated to the family, adding a personal and emotional touch to the garden. A solid wood bench provides both a resting place and a convenient spot for placing bags before entering the house.
The largest part of the garden extends behind the house, revealing a spacious lawn for various activities and play. Here, the presence of nature is even more profound, allowing its rhythm to be enjoyed throughout the seasons. A beloved fire pit area is set apart from the rest of the garden, with a stacked woodpile not only marking its boundaries but also adding intimacy and warmth to the space.
To accentuate the architecture of the house and create a visual levitation effect, a rusted metal support wall has been installed. This feature gives the illusion that the building emerges from the landscape, blending harmoniously with its surroundings while maintaining a modern architectural expression.
The most private garden area—a Japanese-inspired retreat— located in the corner of the house with a direct exit from the office space. Through a low window, a decorative water basin reflects the sky and the refined essence of the garden, fostering a serene and meditative atmosphere. The composition of this space consists of massive stones, precisely arranged concrete slabs, and a water feature framed in rusted metal.
The entrance to the Japanese garden from the rest of the garden is framed by iconic plants—a meticulously shaped Nivaki tree and a Japanese maple. Alongside other plantings, they reflect seasonal changes and add an Eastern delicacy to the space. For added privacy, trimmed hornbeam hedge segments enclose the area.
This garden embodies modern minimalism and the balance of nature—a place where architecture, the natural environment, and everyday life converge in a refined and harmonious rhythm.
Architecture of buildings: OAD
Landscape architecture: GALANTUS
Photo: Alvis Rozenbergs
