Dundrum Dublin
Project Description
This garden was unusual in so far as it was a terraced property, resulting in the garden being quite narrow while at the same time being above average in length. The garden was also on a slight incline. The rear of the house was south facing and at the end of the garden was an unsightly shed.
Client Brief
The client had two main requirements; one, to elevate the incline and two, to as far as is possible to make the garden appear wider. The client also had mobility issues and any paving needed to have an engineered smooth finish while still possessing a degree of friction grip. Planting was also to be kept to a minimum in line with the clients restricted capacity to carry out maintenance work. A mush as possible the shed at the end of the garden was to be masked with the use of planting.
Design Solution
To attempt to reduce the visually narrow appearance of the garden, diagonal wavy lines were used to form the main characterisation of the garden and these where also to be used to elevate the inclined by introducing terracing into the garden using these diagonal lines as the change in levels. Steps were kept shallow at just 100mm rises for ease of access. The paved area was immediately outside the rear of the house, coming out flush with kitchen floor to avoid any unnecessary potential trip hazards. The patio also took advantage of the south facing aspect. The paving itself was engineered concrete with a beige coloured finely textured finish. Planting areas were kept small with the exception of the shed end planting area, designed with the idea of concealing the rather unsightly shed within a couple of years. The planted areas were mulched with mypex weed membrane and topped with Valentia 14mm pebble to eliminate the need for regular labour-intensive weeding. Use of artificial grass was contemplated to further reduce necessary maintenance although in the end budget restrictions eliminated this consideration.