Port Royal, designed for the place.
Port Royal sits at the southern end of Old Naples — bay-front and gulf-front, walled gardens, century-old banyans, the most established luxury address on the Southwest Florida coast. Knäak Design Group has worked in Port Royal for over two decades. The way we design here is shaped by it.
What working in Port Royal teaches you.
Port Royal properties are not blank slates. The neighborhood is shaped by mature canopies, by water frontage on Gordon Pass or the gulf, by the established setbacks of homes built in the 1960s and the new architecture going up next door to them. The site dictates more than the brief.
A successful Port Royal landscape acknowledges all of that. It does not treat the property like an empty lot in Esplanade. It works with the canopies, frames the water view, threads new design through whatever the previous architects left behind. The result feels inevitable — like the new pool was always there.
What we design in Port Royal.
Bay- and gulf-front pools
Pools sited to read against the water — infinity edges that vanish into Gordon Pass, knife-edge perimeters, glass-tile finishes that pick up the gulf color.
Walled courtyards
Many Port Royal properties have private interior courtyards. We design these as the secret heart of the house — quiet fountains, intimate plantings, the kind of detail that does not show from the street.
Mature canopy integration
Port Royal's banyans, royal palms, and mature oaks are the most valuable thing on the property. We design around them. We do not specify around them.
Dock-side landscape
For waterfront homes — the transition from house to dock is its own design problem. We have spent twenty years solving it.
Hurricane-conscious design
Every Port Royal homeowner has been through a hurricane. Plant choices, hardscape detail, and pergola engineering all factor it in.
“We do not decorate a property. We read what the place already is — the water, the canopy, the light — and design something that feels like it was always meant to be there.”
Common questions.
Do you work with Port Royal's design review board?
Yes. We have worked through Port Royal's review process repeatedly over the past two decades. Submittals, revisions, hearings — we know what the board expects and we prepare drawings accordingly.
Can you preserve mature trees during construction?
Yes — and we treat it as a hard requirement. Mature banyans, royal palms, and live oaks are protected with root-zone barriers, canopy assessments, and arborist consultation during demolition and excavation. We design around the trees.
What does a Port Royal project typically take?
From first site walk to final installation — typically twelve to twenty-four months on a full estate project. Permitting in Port Royal can be longer than in newer neighborhoods. We plan for it.
Do you work on Gordon Pass and gulf-front properties specifically?
Yes. Waterfront design is its own discipline — drainage, salt exposure, view-corridor planning, dock integration, hurricane mitigation. We have designed and built waterfront pools and landscapes throughout Port Royal for over two decades.
Eleven consecutive Best of Houzz awards · 2020 HGTV People's Choice Award, Cape Coral
Bring the property to us.
If your home is in Port Royal — or anywhere in Old Naples — we would be glad to begin a conversation. Rob personally reviews every inquiry.
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