Garden Design - Highbury, London N5
This design utilises aspects of each of the four classical elements combined within an open-plan and highly social space.
The garden will be split into two main areas - a large area of decking adjoining the house and a sunken, paved seating area to the rear of the space. Entrance to the garden is via the sideway, which will be simply dressed with resined Shetland gravel and accessed either by the kitchen door or, with the addition of a raised decked platform and steps, via the lounge through the currently defunct French window. Railings along the side of the steps and front of the platform will aid safety, while the empty space below the platform will benefit from the addition of a weatherproof storage unit. The sideway itself will be left clear of ornamentation to allow the client to add their own pots and containers as they wish.
Entrance from the sideway to the garden proper will be via a decked step opening onto a decked patio measuring 5m x 4m, large enough to be adapted to a variety of uses from sunbathing to formal dining. A series of wide and shallow terraced steps in the centre of the space allow access from here to the main focus of the garden - a sunken conversation pit. This area will be paved throughout with Indian Fossil slate in a formal pattern, and will be flanked on both sides and along the back boundary by rendered block raised beds in Aubergine. Seating in this area will be provided with the addition of long, deep, fixed benches along the back bed and both side beds. These benches will comprise rendered block risers and hinged decked lids to allow for further weatherproof storage. The paving will be softened slightly by flush beds located at the ends of the two side benches.
A limestone water feature located centrally on the paving, close to the bottom of the terraced steps, will become an elegant focal point to the sunken area, enhancing the space with the the gentle sound of running water and serving as an unusual bottle cooler on hot summer days!
Planting in the space will be follow a contemporary form, with soft, architectural grasses nestled amongst strong bold flowers. Lavender and purple hues compliment plums and whites, while lush greens such as Hosta and Bamboo offset the plum foliage of Cotinus and the silver hues of Euphorbia. Climbers both evergreen and deciduous will adorn the fences to provide year round coverage. The fences themselves will be repaired where necessary and painted 'Willow' to provide a subtle backdrop to the planting scheme.
The design will be completed with the addition of a subtle lighting scheme. Featuring predominantly white lighting to maintain the garden's clean and semi-formal feel, the scheme will make use of a variety of low voltage lights to achieve an overall ambient wash. Lights within the decked platform and steps adjoining the lounge window will serve to safely guide one down to the sideway, with further lights in the steps at the end leading one up to the main area of decking.The decking itself will be illuminated around its edge with small sunken LED lights. Further step lights set in the risers of the terraced steps will mark one's passage down to the paving below, where lights set into the sides of the fixed benches and low voltage spots dotted throughout the raised beds will work together to provide gentle illumination throughout the sunken seating area.