The Brief:

To create a contemporary open space that works in harmony with the new garden room recently fitted. The space was to be visually appealing from both the house and within and following the clients existing tastes. The area needs to serve as both an entry point to the property and address the issue of being overlooked from the road and the houses to the rear. The design must feature a generous area for table and chairs and BBQ for family occasions and needs to be open plan and visually appealing. The garden needs to flow seamlessly from the garden room to the outdoor space creating and needs to be able to be used at night.

The Garden:

The space and its requirements generated a courtyard effect that we finished in bright, large slabs of porcelain paving. The raised area outside of the porch was constructed in line with the floor level of the house which required the use of large shallow feature steps down onto the main patio and adjacent pathways.
 

The porcelain has a colour that tones with particular coloured elements of the tiles used in the inside of the porch. In areas with less frequent use, a decorative gravel was used to complement the colour scheme and draw from the greys and buff tones of the porcelain.
 

The perimeter of the garden needed to be screened from the roadside, the rear garden area and neighbouring properties. A high slatted screen perimeter fence was constructed that was set in line with the feature burnt timber screens. The slatted woodwork would quickly fade to grey over time to match and change the feel of the space as the garden matures.

The client asked for a colourful planting scheme initially, before the project concepts were agreed. Once materials and overall finish were finalised, we offered the client an alternate choice of soft landscaping scheme using a very limited palette of greens, whites and silvers as an alternative that the client loved so this was the scheme which was implemented.

The exception to the scheme was the specimen Acer that sat against a black sugi ban backdrop. Here we used a vivid stemmed Acer Palmatum Eddisbury that contrasted against the black with its red stems and lime green to yellow/orange leaf. The acer was the main focal point looking from the garden room.

Accolades: