Lion House in Barnes
Our clients commissioned us to redesign both front and back gardens and a tricky side passage for their Lion House in Barnes. Built at the beginning of the 1900s, the house was being redesigned to become a clean and bright contemporary home. The new layout extended a versatile and elegant dining room with large sliding glass doors spanning the rear of the house to face the rear garden. A new view was created from the front door all the way through the house to the garden where we positioned a beautiful multi-stem Cornus mas tree to draw the eye.
Early on in the design process it was decided with the client not to have any lawn but instead to have a series of terraces and gravel areas linked by a series of paths through wide, flowing planting beds. Buttresses of clipped Carpinus betulus hedge step forwards from the side boundaries to give a sense of progression through the garden and thereby both lengthening and widening the space. A dense covering of climbing plants, Star Jasmine, Clematis species, Akebia quinata, winter flowering Quince and Roses enclose the garden in a rich green, scented tapestry. A series of low clipped Yew hedges give a year-round solidity to the surrounding wide perennial beds.
We wanted to bring the abundance and softness of the plants as close as possible to the open aspect of the dining room to fill the view. This meant the clients could step out of the sliding glass doors straight into the richness of the planted garden; the seating area and dining terrace were pushed further away from the house towards the rear of the garden. This layout has accentuated the need to have year round interest and seasonal change as the whole of the garden is on show. The early spring blaze of yellow from the Cornus mas and Euphorbia Fens Ruby transitions to the softer whites and purples of the Peonies, Roses, Salvias, Anemones and Astrantia throughout the summer, before the Autumn russets of the grasses and trees and the winter flowering Daphne, Hellebore and Quince species come into bloom. All these elements are held together by the strong architectural lines of the clipped Hornbeam and Yew.
A firebowl and comfortable sofas in the gravel seating area and heaters on the dining terrace have allowed this sociable family to use their garden late into the summer evenings. Lighting on the multi-stemmed and pleached trees creates views into the garden throughout the year.
We also created a new, more classic front garden space which complements the period features of the late-Victorian house.
Early on in the design process it was decided with the client not to have any lawn but instead to have a series of terraces and gravel areas linked by a series of paths through wide, flowing planting beds. Buttresses of clipped Carpinus betulus hedge step forwards from the side boundaries to give a sense of progression through the garden and thereby both lengthening and widening the space. A dense covering of climbing plants, Star Jasmine, Clematis species, Akebia quinata, winter flowering Quince and Roses enclose the garden in a rich green, scented tapestry. A series of low clipped Yew hedges give a year-round solidity to the surrounding wide perennial beds.
We wanted to bring the abundance and softness of the plants as close as possible to the open aspect of the dining room to fill the view. This meant the clients could step out of the sliding glass doors straight into the richness of the planted garden; the seating area and dining terrace were pushed further away from the house towards the rear of the garden. This layout has accentuated the need to have year round interest and seasonal change as the whole of the garden is on show. The early spring blaze of yellow from the Cornus mas and Euphorbia Fens Ruby transitions to the softer whites and purples of the Peonies, Roses, Salvias, Anemones and Astrantia throughout the summer, before the Autumn russets of the grasses and trees and the winter flowering Daphne, Hellebore and Quince species come into bloom. All these elements are held together by the strong architectural lines of the clipped Hornbeam and Yew.
A firebowl and comfortable sofas in the gravel seating area and heaters on the dining terrace have allowed this sociable family to use their garden late into the summer evenings. Lighting on the multi-stemmed and pleached trees creates views into the garden throughout the year.
We also created a new, more classic front garden space which complements the period features of the late-Victorian house.
Country: United Kingdom
