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House By The Water
London Courtyard
Oxford City Centre
Shiplake, Oxfordshire
Henley-on-Thames
Cotswolds
Reading, Berkshire
Cape Town, South Africa
Henley-on-Thames 2
RHS Malvern Festival
Italy
Henley on Thames 3
Blewbury
Garsington
Castle Knot Garden

RHS Malvern Spring Festival

'Best Festival Garden'

This garden offers a study of the relationship between man and the natural world.

The clean, geometric layout combines with neatly clipped planting to highlight the human need to organise and bring order to the natural world. In contrast, areas of naturalistic planting represent the uncontrolled growth that takes place when nature is left untamed.

The design creates harmony and rhythm through the use of these two very different styles of planting.

The RHS Judges praised our execution of what in essence was a very simple design, but in practice very difficult to pull off. The planting they thought beautiful.

London Courtyard

The Client

Single professional female.

The Site

Victorian terrace garden in West London.

6m x 5m.

The Brief

To create an interesting and stylish garden extension to the house, with simple planting which would give year round interest with minimum maintenance required. To screen off the courtyard from the house opposite and incorporate a dramatic water feature into the small space.

House By The Water

As featured on Channel 4 Grand Designs :

Kevin McCloud comments on the garden: 'Magical experience', 'Delightful landscape', 'It's like I've discovered Narnia' .....

The Client

A professional couple.

The Site

A long, thin stretch of ground all to the front of the house. The site is liable to flood.

The Brief

To create a beautiful outside space in which to live, eat, work and entertain, to complement an ultra-contemporary house.

Henley-on-Thames

The Client

A young couple with two young boys.

The Site

The front of an Edwardian house in a small village. This is the only outside space the family has and was dissected by a drive way. The garden is south facing and is overlooked by the house opposite.

The Brief

To create a safe, family garden where children could play on a large lawn, combined with classic English garden features such as clipped topiary, blousy flower borders and a herb garden by the kitchen door. Privacy from the house across the road was an important factor.

Castle Knot Garden

Knot garden designed for castle garden undergoing restoration. Designed to blend references to the family crest and language of traditional gardens of this type.

The design has taken the family crests as inspiration: the cinquefoil and the red rondel which became united when the two families were joined in marriage. The design of threads, rich in contrast of foliage textures and colour, inter-link closely to reflect the families close ties to the castle. A box-edged pool in the centre of the design brings movement and sound to the garden, the design for which was inspired by the ruined remains of the castle’s gothic windows.

Oxford City Centre

The Client

A young professional couple.

The Site

A 5m x 8m courtyard to a 1980’s terrace house in central Oxford.

The Brief

Provide a relaxing, contemporary setting for entertaining family and friends. Features to include a balcony for dining.

The Design Solution

The balcony was to be extended across the whole of the back wall to provide an external dining area. The boundaries were to be unified by using the same materials throughout. Horizontal trellis would create an illusion of length, whilst allowing light to filter through. Raised beds planted up with low maintenance evergreens add to the sense of enclosure and a small water feature connects the two sides of the courtyard and also helps to mask traffic noise.

Cape Town, South Africa

The Client

Professional couple with a young family.

The Site

Small courtyard garden to a three storey town house in Cape Town, South Africa with existing plunge pool.

The Brief

Existing clients wanted to revamp the design of their Holiday home in Cape Town. They wanted to create a low maintenance garden which would need to have an interesting top view as the town house had a terrace on each of the floors above. They wanted structure and evergreen planting.

Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

The Client

A very active, newly retired couple.

The Site

A medium sized garden to a newly refurbished and extended period property in a small Oxfordshire village.

The Brief

To provide privacy between the client's and neighbouring properties, so that they could be in their garden without feeling they were being overlooked. To create a small, 'secondary', private garden adjoining the detached garage, which would be split to provide parking to the front and guest accommodation to the rear of the building. They also wanted to have a sheltered seating area, where they could sit in all weathers. Planting was to have a romantic feel in the back garden with a sense of enclosure, and formal, structural planting to the front to complement a period cottage.

Shiplake, Oxfordshire

The Site

Newly refurbished and extended modern house. South facing garden.

The Brief

To create an elegant and co-ordinated garden to tie in with the newly completed, modern exterior to the house, sleek hard-landscaping with classic, soft planting which would give colour, scent and structure to the garden at all times of the year and also provide a sense of privacy from the house opposite.

An evening and also a breakfast terrace to take advantage of the position of the sun at different times of the day.

Reduce the appearance of the two distinct ground levels as much as possible, but still keep a small portion of the retaining wall in the area around the existing Magnolia.

Modern style slatted fencing, rendered raised beds and a lighting plan were also requested.

Italy

The Client

Property developers.

The Site

An elegant, period villa, situated in a chic, coastal town in the Marche. Italy. The once grand villa has been left to decay over the years. Beneath nearly a century of untamed growth, the classically inspired garden to the front of the villa, can just still be glimpsed.

The Brief

Our clients are going to restore this impressive, historic villa and convert the accommodation into 7 individual apartments. The gardens to the front of the building are to be restored to their original design, whilst the back, which had been used as a car park, is to be completely redesigned to be respectful and sympathetic towards the heritage of the villa, but still bring a contemporary feel to the grounds. A pool and generous entertainment areas are to be incorporated into the design.

Reading, Berkshire

The Client

A young male doctor, working shifts in the A & E Department of a large city hospital.

The Brief

To create a stylish outside space easily accessible from the house, with a spacious, comfortable seating area for entertaining and cooking. He wanted various focal points to be viewed from within. As the house was on a corner plot the garden was bordered on two sides by busy roads, so he wanted us to mask the sound of the traffic as much as possible with the use of a water feature and suitable planting.

There was to be structural hedging, but the planting was to have a relaxed feel to it, with a woodland style garden to the bottom of the site and also an area to grow herbs and fruit, but not necessarily a dedicated vegetable garden.

A keen gardener, the client wanted a garden he could take on himself and develop in stages. Various seating areas around the garden were requested to take advantage of being home at different times of the day. He especially wanted breakfast terraces to both the kitchen area and master bedroom so he could enjoy his garden as much as possible. Lastly, a central lawn was to be a key feature.

Cotswolds

The Client

A professional couple with a young son.

The Site

A newly built stone barn style house within a beautiful village on the edge of the Cotswolds, with views towards the local medieval church and open fields to the west, and to the east period properties built of local stone.

The Brief

The brief was to create a traditional English country house garden which would seamlessly combine both classic and modern elements within geometric forms. They wanted to incorporate as much topiary, structural planting and local stone into the elements of the garden as was possible. The design was to be implemented in stages over the years, as time and budgets allowed.

Henley-on-Thames

The Client

A professional couple with a teenage family.

The Site

Facing North East, and on two levels, a long and narrow garden to a charming period property in a small village, near to Henley on Thames.

The Brief

To create a contemporary style garden for grown-ups, as the garden was no longer used as a play area for children. To have a focal point of interest which would be viewed from inside the house, as well as create a way to hide the shed and utility area from view of the house. To incorporate an outdoor sitting room with a fireplace as well as introduce water by the house. Strong, structural planting to give year round interest, as well as retaining a small area of lawn.

Garsington - Oxfordshire

The Client

A couple with teenage children.

The Site

A multi levelled site, the main garden being sited below the house and street level. The lowest level has a public footpath separating it from the local primary school.

The Brief

To unify the garden, make a positive feature of its multiple levels and provides privacy. To create various seating areas for different times of the day.

Blewbury

The Site

2.5 acres on a gently sloping site. A public footpath runs parallel to the longest boundary, open views to neighbours gardens on the others.

The Brief

To create additional terraces, relaxation, dining and entertainment areas for friends and family. Lay a path to the tennis court and large swimming lake. Site and build a balcony overlooking the garden and conservatory. Design solutions for the lack of privacy and to clearly direct visitors to the correct entrance to the house.