Landscaping for Big Brother

[Craig de Necker]

Hi all,

We just finished with the design and installation of two gardens for Big Brother Stargame (The seventh season of Big Brother Africa).

This year, there are two houses (and two gardens) – it was quite tricky designing for this, as space was limited and we had to take the cameras into account (there are huge one-way mirrors in the garden that must be kept clear at all times.

I designed in SketchUp… this is the luxury garden, or “Upville”…

This is “Downville”, the more crowded and not so luxurious garden…

In one garden, we designed a fire pit with a water feature – they are in the house for 91 days and we’re hoping that this area will be used a lot!.

The water feature sound had to be kept to a minimum because of the many microphones installed in the garden and carried by the housemates – we opted for a laminar flow spout and low fall height in order to achieve this.

We used synthetic turf in order to keep the garden looking good through winter and because maintenance time is very limited on a show like this.

Television, especially a 24/7 live show like Big Brother is a very different environment in which to work and I was wondering if there were any other designers/installers out there with any similar installations who would like to share their experiences.

You can see more photos and design work of Big Brother on our website http://www.thefriendlyplant.co.za

[Rob Halpern]

I did assume from the Subject that this was about working on a government project.

But I enjoyed the post and the insights you offered into designing for so specific a situation as a reality TV show. Thanks!

[Craig de Necker]

Thanks Rob – yep… as they say Big Brother is watching 😉

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