Contemporary Garden Design, Marlow
BRIEF
The brief for this contemporary garden in Marlow was to introduce substantially more interest while removing the lawn, allowing the clients to spend more time enjoying the garden and less time maintaining it.
As part of the design brief, we explored how the garden could feel more immersive and encourage a greater sense of discovery. The clients liked the idea of hidden pathways and ‘nooks and crannies’ rather than being able to see and understand the whole garden immediately. They also wanted changes of level and a firepit.
The house itself was due to be altered, so we worked from the architect’s proposals to ensure that the new garden flowed naturally from the redesigned house.
DESIGN SOLUTION
The central design idea was to make the garden feel larger by emphasising diagonal axes across the space. This was achieved through the overall layout, the positioning of the seating areas and the direction in which the Van de Mortel pavers were laid. By leading the eye along the longest diagonal lines rather than simply across the width or length of the plot, the garden feels more generous and offers longer views.
Changes in level introduce additional spatial variety. A sunken seating area contains a chiminea firepit, while a raised sun deck creates a contrasting elevated space elsewhere in the garden.
A corner pergola provides shade over the dining area. From here, the view travels diagonally across the sunken seating area towards the raised sun deck beyond, reinforcing the principal geometry.
The different garden spaces and the new trees were positioned carefully according to when the clients wanted sun or shade.
As with our other projects, we used geographically located Computer Aided Design modelling to assess the movement of sunlight and shadow at different times of day and through different times of year. This allowed the layout to respond not simply to the geometry of the garden, but to how the clients actually intended to use each space.
If you are looking for a garden designer in Marlow we’d love to discuss your vision. We can also provide garden design services across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and beyond. If you would like to discuss how we could create your dream garden design get in touch here.
