The Resilient Yard Standard

Each design is sized inside the lines below. Every line comes from City of Los Angeles sources or the state Zone 0 rules. The line for another city or county is unconfirmed until it is read for the site.

The Zone 0 Courtyard: the first 5 ft around a structure, kept free of combustible mulch, firewood, dead vegetation and new combustible fencing (the Board of Forestry Zone 0 regulations, August 2026). Structures in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone follow the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (Los Angeles Municipal Code 91.7207).

The Shade and Water Courtyard: a pergola or lath house of 400 sq ft or less outside any fire district (Los Angeles Building Code section 101.5), and water shallower than 18 in, the depth at which the pool bulletin requires an enclosure (LADBS bulletin P/BC 2026-014).

The Water-Wise Yard: retaining walls up to 4 ft from the bottom of the footing with no surcharge, on slopes no steeper than 1:5, and on-grade tanks of 5,000 gal or less (Los Angeles Building Code section 101.5); the narrower LADBS detail of 30 in exposed (LADBS bulletin P/BC 2026-002); and the low impact development trigger of 2,500 sq ft of impervious area inside environmentally sensitive areas (LA Sanitation report to Council, April 2026).

Signature Stone: materials the code names, or evidence of adequacy from ISO/IEC 17025 laboratories for any it does not (Los Angeles Municipal Code 98.0501); walls of rubble or stacked block need a current LADBS Research Report or an approved-agency Evaluation Report (LADBS bulletin P/BC 2026-002).

Pond and Plunge Edges: a combined pool permit with two stamped plan sets (LADBS bulletin P/BC 2026-014), water clarity defined by a 6 in black disk visible from the sidewalk at up to 10 yards (Los Angeles Municipal Code 91.8118), and the vessel built by a licensed pool builder (the CSLB guide to pool construction).

Each design pairs with a tradition. Signature Stone and the lime finishes draw on Roman builders. The Shade and Water Courtyard draws on Moorish water walls and Mughal shade screens. The Water-Wise Yard draws on Inca terraces and Mayan mineral ground. Pond and Plunge Edges draw on Roman cold plunge basins.

A tradition names a design language. Performance comes from measurement, and the plan below says what we will measure.

The Zone 0 Courtyard. Cut stone and gravel paving, crushed stone and gravel planting beds, stone or masonry edging, metal or masonry fence and gate runs, and live plants kept watered and trimmed.

The Shade and Water Courtyard. Pierced stone or metal screen panels, a steel or masonry shade frame, a stone-faced water wall with a recirculating pump and return, a basin shallower than 18 in, stone paving and mineral beds.

The Water-Wise Yard. Stone terrace faces, drainage gravel behind each wall, reinforced block cores, mineral beds, drought-tolerant plants, drip irrigation and an on-grade rain tank where the site calls for one.

Signature Stone. Natural stone cut to a numbered plan, lime-based setting and finish coats where the engineer and the plan check accept them, and for walls built to the LADBS Figure 1 detail: 8x8x16 ASTM C55 block, A-615 steel, 2,500 psi concrete and grouted cells (LADBS bulletin P/BC 2026-002).

Pond and Plunge Edges. Natural stone coping, steps, benches and paving around a vessel built by a licensed pool builder, with mineral planting beds at the edge.

Every design. A written list of each material used, named at handover.

The showcase yard is the test bench. Every line below states what will be measured. No result exists yet, and the location and date of the showcase yard are unconfirmed until it is built.

Heat. A globe thermometer and shielded air loggers go into the courtyard and into a control spot in the same yard on a hot afternoon. The loggers record at a fixed interval from before the sun reaches the yard until after it leaves. We publish the full log, the instrument model, its calibration date and photographs of the setup.

Water. Water meter reads are taken at the utility meter before the work and again after it, with the date written beside each read. We publish both reads and both dates.

Sound. A recorded listening test is made at the courtyard seat with the water running and with the water off, from the same listener position at the same hour. We publish the recording and the listener notes.

Photographs. Before-and-after photographs are taken from marked positions and dated. We publish the pairs side by side.

A reading that exists carries [TIER: MEASURED] with its instrument, calibration and photographs.

Every figure of our own carries one of three tiers.

[TIER: COMPUTED] A model or script output, with its inputs listed.

[TIER: MEASURED] A dated instrument reading from the yard or a site, with calibration and photographs.

[TIER: CERTIFIED] A signed third-party document: an accredited laboratory report, a LADBS Research Report, an engineer's stamp, a partner quote or a bank record.

A figure quoted from a code or a study carries the short name of its source and takes no tier. Today this site carries no computed, measured or certified figure of its own.

No results. No measurement from our yards exists yet, and none is implied. This page states plans.

No claims from lineage. A tradition names a design language. It carries no performance promise.

No claim without a record. A fire rating, a noise reduction figure, a cooling figure, a stormwater credit, an earthquake claim, a self-repair claim and a chemical-free water guarantee stay off every page until a measured or certified record exists for it.

No stand-in for a certificate. The Standard is our own. No third party certifies it today.