The plot was a small south facing urban garden in a basement townhouse flat, with a pathway belonging to the upstairs neighbour running from a fire-escape style metal stair out along the left side of the space. Access to this garden was a major issue, as the only entrance was via the narrow basement flat with a steep set of stairs to traverse.
The garden was on two levels - a lower level directly outside the house laid with tired looking concrete paving and a raised area retained by Victorian brick walls accessed by a set of crumbling steps. The boundaries to the garden were also in need of attention. The brief from the client was to create a stylish and elegant space suitable for entertaining.
In the original design, the main focal point of the space was to be a large, rectangular, sunken conversation pit, featuring decked flooring and steps/seating, with the risers clad in white paving to create a durable and attractive area in which to
dine, recline and entertain. However, during construction, circumstances dictated that design be changed by mutual agreement between Earth Designs and the client.
In the revised design, the half-finished conversation pit was decked over, and paved around the edge with elegant
white travertine edged with flush beds, to create an attractive ground level dining area.
Three oblong stainless steel planters containing tall and skinny bamboo were incorporated in the bed along the left of this
area to mask the neighbour's pathway from view. The end of the space featured a tall stainless steel water wall rising like
an obelisk from the flush bed. This was framed on both sides by green frosted-glass box lights on small decking plinths nestled between strong architectural plants such as Cordyline Australis, Dicksonia antartica and Fatsia japonica.
The brick steps and lower section of the space was paved with white travertine to tie the two sections of the garden together. To address the lack of storage space in the garden, a waterproof cupboard was created in the 'dead space' beneath the neighbour's metal stairs. Lighting in the garden was provided by sunken lights in the decked area, a
contemporary lantern on the wall in the lower section, and low voltage spots in the beds to give an ambient glow throughout.
"Thanks to the Earth Designs team, we now have a garden that is ideal for entertaining friends, or just relaxing in the evenings or at weekends. The team worked very long hours to incorporate a change in the design half way through, and to combat the awful weather.
Very much perfectionists, they made sure everything was just right, from edging the paving where the walls weren't quite straight to ensuring the lighting was correctly situated to make the most of the planting. The result - a stunning, low maintenance garden in which we are proud to entertain friends and family. We have recommended Earth Designs to our friends and will use them in the future when we move to our next property."
