A garden created by Joan Nadal in the Serra de Tramuntana, seemingly born from the mountain itself

In the Serra de Tramuntana, where topography and light shape the landscape, this landscaping project by Jardins Tramuntana proposes an intervention deeply rooted in its setting. Under the direction of Joan Nadal, the garden is conceived as a natural extension of the mountain, an exercise in reading and adapting to the land. The proposal seeks to minimise alterations to the original terrain. Paths, built elements and the very structure of the planting respond to the existing morphology, respecting the slope, the views and the environmental conditions inherent to this Mediterranean enclave. The result is a harmonious landscape, developed through restraint and coherence.

Topography, movement and landscape

The garden is organised following the natural lines of the hillside, establishing a continuous relationship between architecture, vegetation and geography. Each intervention responds to a functional or landscape-related need. The project is experienced progressively, revealing spaces that expand and contract according to the relief, allowing the larger landscape —the Serra de Tramuntana— to stand out with its presence.

The main staircase acts as a link between the house and the garden, dissolving the boundaries between interior and exterior. Its transverse layout allows the landscape to visually penetrate the architecture, becoming a structuring axis that organises the whole. Along this route, a carefully selected line of white Iceberg roses accompanies the walk, while cypresses and olive trees introduce verticality and rhythm, marking pauses and perspectives.

Vegetation as structure

The planting composition responds to ecological and functional criteria, with a selection of species fully adapted to the climate and landscape of the Tramuntana. Centuries-old olive trees, selected from within the estate itself and transplanted to strategic points, act as the backbone of the garden. Their presence and maturity visually anchor the project to the territory and establish a dialogue between contemporary design and the site’s agricultural memory.

Aromatic rosemary, lentisk shrubs, holm oaks, carob trees, cypresses and wild olive trees form a resilient plant matrix, capable of accompanying the paths, defining spaces and reinforcing views towards the horizon. Each species fulfils a precise role within a landscape narrative that seeks natural evolution over time.

Restrained materiality

Corten steel is used as the principal material for retaining and defining the different levels of the garden. Its presence is discreet, and its gradual ageing allows it to blend with the earthy tones of the mountain range. Terraces, walkways and small retaining walls stabilise the slopes without altering the natural profile of the land, reinforcing the idea of an intervention that accompanies rather than imposes itself.

Water features appear as minimal gestures, embedded in the slope with the same delicacy that characterises the rest of the project. They function as mirrors that double the landscape, reflecting the sky, the silvery crowns of the olive trees and the rugged outlines of the mountain. Water introduces a contained sensory dimension: a constant murmur that accompanies the journey and reinforces a sense of calm.

Spaces for use and coexistence

The different areas of the garden are organised with attention to both functionality and spatial experience. The play area is located on a lower level in relation to the house, ensuring visual and acoustic calm while maintaining a connection with the overall landscape. The swimming pool, integrated into the topography, is conceived as a space of balance between wellbeing, design and landscape.

The paths, traced according to the natural logic of the terrain, invite a slow and contemplative walk. Improvised viewpoints and resting areas allow visitors to pause and observe, reinforcing that blurred boundary where it becomes difficult to distinguish where the garden ends and the mountain begins.

An intervention that understands its place

In this project, the intervention dissolves into the landscape, respecting and amplifying it, demonstrating that true luxury lies in the harmony between design, nature and time. Jardins Tramuntana proposes here a way of understanding landscape design as both a technical and cultural discipline, capable of creating spaces that integrate naturally into their context and enhance the relationship between people and the territory they inhabit.

Project: Serra de Tramuntana.
Location: Serra de Tramuntana.
Completed: 2025.
Author: Jardins Tramuntana. Joan Nadal.
Photography: Jüergen Becker. Marc Castejon.
Source: Pilar Navarro Comunicación.

Jardins Tramuntana

In Mallorca, at the heart of the Mediterranean landscape, Jardins Tramuntana stands out as one of the most consistent voices in contemporary landscape design in Spain. Founded more than three decades ago by Joan Nadal, the studio has gradually shaped a trajectory defined by a deep integration of design, ecology and territorial sensitivity.

What we now recognise as Jardins Tramuntana was born from the impulse to conceive gardens that, beyond providing visual beauty, reconstruct and extend the stories of a place. With a multidisciplinary team bringing together landscape designers, architects, engineers and botanical specialists, the studio’s practice unfolds across projects of varying scale —from residential gardens to complex landscape interventions— always guided by a perspective that understands landscape as a living organism.

The practice of Jardins Tramuntana is distinguished by a holistic understanding of the site: topography, climate, vegetation, geography and cultural memory are not treated as separate entities, but as variables that inform every design decision. This way of structuring the practice —as a process rather than an image— results in gardens that engage in dialogue with their surroundings, that feel inevitable in the terrain they inhabit, and that, over time, evolve with the same naturalness as their plant elements.

Throughout its history, the studio has been invited to work beyond Mallorca and participates in international platforms that recognise the complexity, rigour and empathy with which it approaches each commission. In every project, Jardins Tramuntana reaffirms its conviction: landscape design is a discipline capable of restoring the relationship between people and nature, and of reshaping territory through sustainability, technical expertise and respect for place.

Joan Nadal

The trajectory of Joan Nadal is inseparable from the history of Jardins Tramuntana. A landscape designer, founder and chief executive of the studio, Nadal embarked on this professional path more than thirty years ago with the determination to explore the Mediterranean landscape through its most intimate structures: native plants, stone, light and the geographic memory each site carries within it.

From the outset, Nadal understood that designing a garden demands both technical rigour and a poetic reading of place. His approach is not limited to the selection of species or the layout of paths, but extends to the analysis of climate, topography, history and the cultural conditions of each context. Under his direction, the Jardins Tramuntana team has consolidated a body of work in which landscape design unfolds as both a technical and an artistic discipline.

Nadal’s influence extends beyond his own projects. He has served as a juror in prestigious national landscape design awards, championing the design of green spaces as applied art and as an agent of environmental and social transformation. Beyond the management of the studio, his practice is characterised by a constant commitment to sustainability, innovation and construction quality. For Nadal, each project is an opportunity to bring together botanical knowledge, technical efficiency and a sensitivity that recognises the landscape as an interlocutor.

Project by Joan Nadal. Jardins Tramuntana