ABSTRACT
Landscape designers do not always pay sufficient attention to the design of gates and their appearance, function, construction and furniture are often only superficially specified. The gate to any open or enclosed space is the most important feature of the enclosure as it may convey welcome, security, or privacy; it may allow a view or be uncompromisingly solid. The design of the gate tells the visitor whether he is to enter at will or by permission only, and whether or not he can bring his car, family or dogs in as well. Gates may have to carry coats of arms, logos, notices, warning signs, and other informa tive material, so these should be designed into the gate from the beginning, since nothing looks worse than a gate or gateposts with scruffy notices and signs added at random. Gates are naturally the hardest worked part of an enclosure, and their ‘furniture’, (that is, all the fittings which serve to open, close and secure the gate) must be capable of standing up to the intended usage, for example, a pedestrian gate to a public park may be open and shut one@and@a@half million times in a twenty@year life, and some Victorian gates 150 years old are still functioning perfectly. Gates may be made of timber, steel tubing or framed wire mesh and are either specified as part of the fencing contract or as separate items. The specially designed one@off wrought iron gate is outside the scope of this book since such gates are usually produced by master blacksmiths who prepare their own design in consultation with the landscape designer. Gates are ordered as right@ or left@handed; a right@handed gate has the hinges on the right@hand side facing the gate when it opens away, with the heads of the bolts showing, while a left@handed gate is the reverse.
