These clients approached me as they wanted to completely re-design their ageing garden to incorporate a new studio, which necessitated a complete re-think of the space. The clients also liked to entertain so wanted a space where they could feed up to twelve people in this pocket sized garden.
Pixholme
A Pocket-Sized Dorking Garden with Studio and Outdoor Dining
The Brief
The clients needed to fit the new studio into the garden in the most efficient way possible, and wanted room for a large dining area, a smaller seating area for just the two of them, and a simple, classic planting palette.
The Design
I managed to squeeze in all of the clients’ requirements – comfortable seating, a table for two, an entertaining area, attractive planting, a lighting scheme, and a step from the house that would double as informal seating. Planting was kept simple, relying mainly on the different shades of green given by a deliberately restricted palette of mainly evergreen plants. A single multi-stem Cercis siliquastrum tree and pair of Taxus (yew) topiary domes created more structure and a feeling of sophistication. We played around with two versions of the area closest to the house – one for more planting and a smaller seating area, and the final version with less planting, as you can see in the 3D visualisations.
The animations show two variations on the design, one maximising seating and one maximising planting.
