Scar Lane

SCAR LN.

A sloping path leading down from the garden gate to the back door dissected a chaotic arena of unusable, overgrown and unstable features. The rear boundary wall had partially collapsed, the floor level around the property was too high and the fenced screening on all sides was looking very tired. Nat and George were into big foliage - jungle style planting and desired a place where they could enjoy a coffee in the morning sun as well as a family dining space to capture the evening light. The garden design was based around the homes bold colours, eclectic interiors and collection of graphic artworks. After lowering the floor level and replacing exterior pipework and damaged drains a pattern of naturally coloured granite setts was designed to be both practical and visually stimulating. A retaining wall of eco concrete defines two distinct areas each with their own views of the centralised planting bed, punctuated with hand bent forms for plant supports. A floating wide corner bench captures the morning sun whilst the sunken dining area will become more private as the planting establishes. The new route to the back gate flows around the space, with a robust steel step that floats over shade loving plants leading to a gravelled area allowing for a firepit to be used safely into the night. With any north facing garden natural light was at a premium in winter so slat fencing was utilised to borrow as much light from the surrounding area. Details saturate and enlarge this small space.

Nothing gets thrown away / inspiration is all around.

Custom formwork was made in situ using corrugated material previously found in a skip. The corten edging was made from scraps off another project. The steel floating step from industrial walkway off-cuts found in an engineers yard and the large sandstone block was unearthed on site. Even the flooring pattern and angled edge detail of the cast retaining wall and step were inspired by the lines of shadow cast from the house roof profile.