Portfolio
Designing beautiful gardens
The Family Garden
We were asked to redesign a 'family' garden (although it wasn't suitable for a family at all). From a weed infested paved area, with broken fences and a rotted decked area, we completely stripped back the garden to create something that can be used all year round.
The garden included a lawn area for the children to play games and a play barked areas around a garden activity tree house. The garden also catered for adults through the much needed hammock and gabion seated areas.
"A fresh pair of eyes on our garden made such a difference, especially for our two young children"
The Sensory Garden
This garden was situated at a community special school for secondary aged students who experience learning difficulties and autism. The brief of the garden was to create a sensory garden that helped students experience the space as best as possible. The garden design was based around the school's logo which incorporated flowing lines. This helped empahasise a sense of journey to visitors/users. Intertwined within it were two 'secret' paths, both cobbled to give a sensation underfoot.
The space also had a large decked and seated areas where lessons could be taken outdoors. Numerous scented and textured plants were used to help enliven the senses.
The Party Garden
The garden was owned by a first time buyer living in the city. As a very social individual, he wanted a garden to entertain friends and family regularly. Through the consultation phase we played around with the idea of various rooms, like nightclubs, ending up towards an outside bar.
We therefore created a garden with a variety of zones. Each zone had a different purpose and was a blend of decked and grass area.
At the beginning of the garden was a dining area, leading into various social spaces, ultimately ending up at a large uplit deck with a bar area. Planting was kept simple yet striking to keep upkeep minimal.
The Coutryard Garden
The original space was a detached garden of a top floor maisonette. It was simply a concreted space used merely for storing old materials.
The new owner wanted something for themselves. They wanted something modern which could highlit their vibrant personality. They wanted a garden which could hide the fact it was detached from the property and actually feel private. It needed all round interest and stray away from 'obvious' plants.
We decided to work diagonally to increase the sense of space. We also built raised beds with a storage bench for practicality. The plants used were strong in form to fill the area and 'hug' the owner as they used it.
The Fibonacci Garden
Following the sad loss of teacher and Head of House Navin Sukram, I was approached to design a memorial garden on the school site behind the main reception area. The site itself was a large grass space with little landscaping architecture. The space itself was relatively unused except for a few weeks in summer when some students would congregate at breaks.
The garden itself would need to reflect the character of Navin, along with highlighting the impact that he had at Brookfield. A link to his Mathematics background in some form was a must. A garden which encapsulated Navin’s sense of community was also a priority .......... Read More