This one and a half acre large garden in Chalfont St Giles benefitted from plenty of mature planting but, following the completion of a series of home improvement projects, it no longer met the family's needs and how they wanted to use the space. Following the decision to install a swimming pool, it became a priority to have a garden design that would determine the optimum location of the pool, and how it could be integrated with other key elements on the design wish-list including a modern outdoor kitchen diner for year-round use.
It was important that the outdoor kitchen diner was large enough to accommodate an 8-10 seater table and chairs while still leaving ample room for barbecuing and pizza-making. A bespoke louvered pergola, complete with green wall, slatted Western red cedar back panel and lighting, is finished in anthracite grey to seamlessly complement the house, and enable the family to use the space throughout the year. Bespoke anthracite grey raised planters for growing culinary herbs were installed alongside for easy reach and also to delineate the kitchen diner from the rest of rear garden and lawn.
A raised upper patio area, flush level with the interior floor, features large format porcelain tiles emulating the look of decking but without the maintenance and slip risks associated with natural timber, as well as a mains-powered gas firetable. The swimming pool, with bespoke coping and paving in a contrasting large format porcelain tile, is screened from driveway traffic by a series of frame-grown fragrant climber Trachelospermum jasminoides, while a hot tub is conveniently located within easy reach of both the outdoor kitchen/diner and the pool.