A Contemporary London Garden
Seamless Indoor-Outdoor Living
This contemporary terraced garden was designed to feel like a seamless extension of the house, combining broad porcelain terraces, subtly integrated rendered planters, an outdoor kitchen and layered architectural planting.
By breaking the garden into a series of carefully proportioned levels, the design softens the impact of the site’s level change and creates a calm, elegant space for dining, entertaining and everyday family life.
Location
NW11, Hampstead
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Style
Contemporary, architectural and softly layered
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Brief
To create a refined and highly usable outdoor space, with a stronger connection to the house, generous entertaining areas, an outdoor kitchen and a planting scheme that softens the architecture while providing year-round structure
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Key features
Large-format porcelain paving, broad garden steps, subtly integrated rendered planters, outdoor kitchen, dining terrace, screening trees, layered evergreen planting, lawn terrace and architectural feature planting
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Planting style
Structured evergreen planting with clipped forms, ornamental grasses and seasonal purple accents, creating a scheme that feels both architectural and softened
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A Terraced Response To A Sloping Site
The natural change in level across the site was resolved by shaping the garden into a sequence of carefully proportioned tiers. This approach helped mask the full extent of the retaining work, allowing the space to feel calm, balanced and inviting rather than overly engineered.
Broad porcelain steps established a clear architectural rhythm throughout the scheme, while subtly integrated rendered planters softened the transitions between levels and helped embed the planting within the structure of the design.
Layered Planting Palette Softened The Architecture
The planting palette was developed to complement the architecture while bringing softness, movement and seasonal interest.
Evergreen structure, clipped forms and textural grasses provided year-round presence, while ornamental alliums and salvias introduced rhythm, contrast and a more expressive seasonal layer.
The finished garden felt composed, immersive and highly usable, a refined contemporary landscape designed for both everyday living and entertaining.
Planning a contemporary garden project?​​