Terrazzo Jawn

When we designed the Pickle Factory garden for the Fishtown neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, we wanted to create a modern garden space that utilized interesting materials and reflected the sustainability values that were so important to the client. The paving and seat wall that serve as the central elements of the useable portion of the yard are to be constructed of recycled concrete slabs that made up the sidewalk and former driveway of the home. The contractor busted up the sidewalk in front of the house into irregular concrete slabs, which will be reused for the patio space in an irregular rubble pattern. The gaps will be filled with stone-dust, allowing them to percolate stormwater runoff; the larger gaps will be planted with creeping herbs and succulents. The contractor also saw-cut the driveway slab into 18” wide strips and chopped those into smaller sections that are stacked and mortar-set as a seat-wall separating planted garden from patio area. The edges of the saw-cut concrete slabs have revealed interesting aggregate patterns and are a Philadelphia take on the classic terrazzo material. Even common, mundane and otherwise waste materials can often be re-purposed in artful and sustainable ways

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