I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to tell you that at the Society of Garden Designers’ Awards on Friday night, I was awarded both the Medium Residential Garden Award and the Judges Award, which you can read about below.
The awards are for a private garden in Somerset, you can find it in my portfolio section under ‘Village Garden’. Commenting on the Medium Residential Garden award, the judges said it was ”A sophisticated piece of design that has transformed the site and made the garden feel much larger. The resulting space has character whilst acknowledging the surrounding landscape. Some sharp design detailing with soft edges.”
As you’ll read if you look in the portfolio, the garden has a central village location, looking out over a pub and church, some neighbouring gardens and, from certain aspects, to the countryside beyond. I wanted the garden to capture the best of this borrowed landscape, while giving privacy where needed, and I also wanted to give a traditional location a more updated feel (the interior of the house has a contemporary design) and was delighted that was recognised in the judges’ comments.
The Judges Award is given to the project that the judges feel most successfully achieves one of the central foundations of good design – a sense of place. On presenting the award, judge Richard Sneesby said it was “A simple idea expertly integrated into its surroundings with beautiful planting, the creative use of traditional materials and craftsmanship, and an intelligent and judicious nod to the 21st Century which reminds us of where we are now and where we have come from.”
I’ll end on something you might find amusing; I saw some new potential clients a couple of years after this garden was completed, who live about half an hour away from here. On asking them what kind of thing they liked, they said, “well, we were at a pub last weekend and saw a garden we loved, we were a bit cheeky and looked over the boundaries to get a better view of it.” And the garden they liked, you’ve guessed it, and the pub? You can see it in the photo below.
My thanks go to Paul Eckett and Rob Green of Original Landscapes for a great build (the garden also won an Association of Professional Landscapers Award for the quality of construction), to the sponsors of these awards for making them possible (Europlants sponsored the Medium Residential Garden award and CED Natural Stone sponsored the Judges Award) but most importantly to my client for her trust in me to be able to create this garden! She too is delighted, commenting that “the award is definitely deserved as our garden is always greatly admired.”
