20/03/2025
What a wonderful project to work on 🤍.
Designing a garden for a challenging sloping site with extreme level changes requires a thoughtful, strategic approach that balances modern aesthetics with functionality.
⚪️ Design Approach: Given the extreme level changes, terracing the garden was essential, in order to provide the client with level spaces for various functions. Clean, sharp lines complement the modern architectural style of the home.
⚪️ Textures: A combination of materials including Gabion cages filled with Portland rocks form part of the retaining walls, whilst others are clad with Porcelain paving and Millboard composite cladding to match materials used on the house.
⚪️ Access: To address difficult access, various sets of Porcelain paved steps smooth the transition between the different levels.
⚪️ Functional Zones: A cozy lounging area with integrated seating, comfortable lounge furniture & fire table set on the same level as the kitchen creates a fabulous space for the clients to enjoy with friends and family.
A dining area set on a lower terrace is surrounded by planting & incorporates a bespoke pergola with climbing Trachelospermum jasmines for dappled shade.
The upper terrace includes a large lawn, planting & a resistance swimming pool.
⚪️ Planting design: The planting scheme includes a colour palette of soft pastels & structural year round interest, & help to soften all the straight hard lines.
An area of vertical planting directly opposite the kitchen, dining & family space breaks up the extremely high retaining wall which was inherited when the original ground works were completed.
⚪️ Lighting: Modern, subtle lighting create a soft atmosphere in the evening.
By strategically combining modern hardscape features, functional zones, & soft layered planting, a harmonious garden complements the cutting-edge design of my client’s home, while working with the natural terrain.
