We were thrilled to make the front cover and have an article written about our Heathside project in the October 2022 edition of Gardens Illustrated. Wonderful Autumnal pictures by Alister Thorpe brought to life with words by Natasha Goodfellow.
Our client had remodelled their home in recent years and they now wanted to improve connection between home and garden providing the family with spaces to entertain, relax and swim… a garden full of interest and atmosphere. Incorporating a pool and pool house was a must.
The rear garden was the key area of focus, but the brief also included redesigning the front garden and creating a cutting/vegetable garden within the old walled garden of the property.
Matthew Childs Design was commissioned to redesign the landscape. The sloping topography of the site, surrounded by trees and views out over the Surrey countryside set the tone for a naturalistic landscape which would incorporate strong design details and geometry to connect home and garden and appeal to the clients love of bespoke design and engineering.
The Westmoreland stone on site was dismantled and used to create new waterfalls and a large wildlife pond which met the edge of a stepped limestone terrace surrounding the perimeter of the rear of the house, linking all aspects of home with garden and providing easy access. A long sunny wispy prairie style walkway with lots of pollinator friendly planting and a morning breakfast area in the furthest east facing spot connects through to the swimming pool with its terrace.
Above this woodland and marginal planting surrounds the wildlife pond. More stone and gravel paths lead from the honed concrete swimming pool disc terrace to the clients home and main terrace and to a fire pit area with bespoke designed curving seating which perches next to the wildlife pond.
Materials were kept consistent with the pool house using larch, stainless steel and concrete again ensuring an integrated look and feel. Such strong manmade contemporary shapes and features were balanced with the softness of planting, the scale of large multi-stem Betula pendula and the use of natural stone which was used to give the illusion it had always been there.
Matthew brought in architectural team Surman Weston to design the stunning cantilevered pool house. Having worked together on projects previously, Heathside was a great opportunity to collaborate on a project where architecture and landscape would be truly integrated. Belderbos Landscapes were the main contractor for the garden build along with numerous specialists and artisans.
Matthew’s garden design hero is Landscape architect Thomas Church and he believes in his ethos that ‘Garden’s are for people’. We are proud of this project because it has reconnected a family with their outdoor space and given them plenty of reasons to spend time in it and made them want to nurture and look after it. The garden is also designed to invite wildlife in with trees, shrubs and ponds creating beneficial habitats and lots of pollinator friendly planting.
This was a pandemic project build – a joy to work on creating something so special during such uncertain times. The brief for the garden and its final incarnation reflected the importance of outdoor spaces and gardens to people’s mental and physical wellbeing.
Our client said, “Matthew Childs Design were a pleasure to work with and have designed and delivered a garden beyond our expectations”.