Our Favorite Urban Outdoor Spaces (and what you can learn from them)

If you're a resident of Philadelphia or the surrounding suburbs, there's a good chance you're working with limited outdoor space. We've been pioneering turning any outdoor urban space into a green oasis for over 30 years. Our team is passionate about the connection between nature and the art of sustainable design. Are you looking to revamp your balcony, rooftop, patio, or backyard? Today we're sharing some of our favorite outdoor Philly spaces to inspire your next natural project.

Creating a Rooftop Oasis

Our rooftop project above features a custom pressure-treated & stained pergola, wooden planter boxes, native climbing plants, flowers, accent lights, and modern furniture. Our goal was to create a cozy but spacious rooftop oasis, with subtle shade and lush greenery. A rooftop creates endless possibilities. We love the lounge approach as seen above, but you can also utilize this space as an exterior dining room, garden, or sunbathing space. We always encourage accent lighting on a rooftop to complement the city lights and skyline view. A rooftop oasis affords you the ability to have an intimate evening with friends while enjoying the big city feel. We complement this with large, plush sectionals and chairs to create the ultimate relaxation zone. Be sure that your rooftop plants are suited with proper drainage, soil, and can handle direct sun.

Making Use of Your Urban Patio

The main focus in creating any natural zone in a big city is a wise use of space. When designing the urban patio above, we wanted every aspect to feature natural finishes while still being highly workable and practical. That's why we built a custom trashcan storage cover in the same finish as the newly installed fence. By incorporating essential outdoor pieces into our work, we create a natural space that's not only comfortable but usable. We then built and designed a custom green wall (or living wall) to complement the space. When building a green wall, the plants you're installing must be able to grow vertically and have room to expand within their containers. We design custom irrigation systems to ensure proper drainage of the green wall (because you don't want to end up with a brown wall). We utilized the space at the bottom of the green wall as an area for basil, rosemary, and more herbs to add fresh flavor to any dish.

Native Plants & Flowers

We combine tropical plants, trailing vines, flowers, evergreens, and more to create our natural spaces. Choosing the right plants for your lighting, climate, and environment can be difficult. Especially for an urban space, where you might be working with very little sunlight or too much sun. Pay attention to the requirements of the plants and flowers you choose, including how often they'll need to be tended to. If the space you're working with is a rooftop that you might not visit as often as you'd like, you'll want to opt for plants requiring less care. 

Get Expert Help

When Hoffman Design Group creates your space, you're guaranteed a seamless and stress-free experience. Selecting and caring for flowers as someone with limited resources can be expensive and frustrating. We utilize our connections, resources, and our deep well of knowledge to transform your space with ease. We do all of this at the most honest and reasonable price we can offer.