Design Excellence Award - Overall Scheme Under £50k

Recognising the Registered Designers who satisfy the design brief of the client, the scope of the contract and where possible exceeding the client's expectations. Judging visits took place for this category.

Jilayne RICKARDS MBALI

PRINCIPAL AWard WINNER 2020

THE URBAN RETREAT - LONDON

Situated in a fast paced and stressful London environment, the clients wanted to create a quiet and restful haven in which to relax. The ethos of the garden was to creatively reuse and recycle as much as possible to reduce the carbon footprint of the build, whilst using original and unique items. This small urban plot is awkwardly triangular in shape with the garden narrowing at the end and although SW facing, it is predominantly shady with an occasional sunny spot; it has typical North London clay soil. Overlooked by neighbours, privacy was going to be a key issue.

A seemingly simple design, the seating areas and arbour are connected by a curving slate path and form the strong structure that anchors the garden. The simplicity was hard to achieve in such a confined space. The many additional elements such as furniture, pots and ornaments were mainly sourced from markets, Ebay and reclaim yards. The immediate graceful impact of three silver birches provide the base for a restful purple, blue, light pink, white and green planting palette. Year round interest is gained from shrubs and bulbs, with seasonal interest from a variety of perennials coming and going throughout the year.