The New Home Office
(Bromley)
A retreat from the City in Keston, Bromley
On the hills at Keston, near the ruins of Roman villa and tombs,
Garden design that solves homeworking
My client is a successful city worker and negotiated some days working from home in the pleasant hills of Bromley.
She chose to work in a new garden room, by a reliable maker, and had it installed at the end of her very long and wide garden.
The garden room really worked for her career, but its was exceptionally stark at the end of her manicured hedges and field.
So my design here focused on planting, to nestle her new workspace in to the landscape, with:
Silver birch
Pittosperum
Russian sage
Gaura
How planting softens garden rooms into landscape
With strong relationships with high quality garden building makers, I work with them to select reclaimed and high quality materials to deliver highly tactile, textural spaces that enrich your life - from teen spaces to home offices and gyms with wellness facilities.
When I place your garden room I always nestle it into the land with planting that links to the ground and the roofline. It may include a scented shrub you brush past as you walk in. Perhaps and small area of herbs that you can tend to when you take a break form your desk. Or for privacy, I like to include screen of green climbers and scented hedging.
The 10 guiding MHGD project principles
Each Melanie Hick Garden Design garden works to as many of our ten principles as possible. This project incorporated these garden design principles
Belonging, sense of place, stewardship - a family garden that took the blank canvas into the future.
Climate resilience for a robust future - kept existing paving, introduced porous additions.
Accessible ways in to the garden - a fully wheelchair -accessible area for a family member in a wheelchair.
Discovery and play to connect with nature and each other - large areas for childrens’ play and gabions for their nature collections.
Emotional wellness for rest, grounding and resonance - seating for adults to gather. A sun terrace for cocktails.
Spatial organisation - the pleasing outcome of good design - generous paths and steps.
Cultural meaning with art, storytelling and artefacts - Dutch bulbs hinting at the family’s heritage.
Species-specific habitat to measure our effectiveness - A planned pond to add water from a blank slate.
Reclaimed and low carbon materials - UK stone and maximum planting areas.
Retain high value existing trees and links to history - Kept ancient apples for interesting gnarls and twists.
Melanie Hick
Related
Projects
The Award Winning Garden
(Hampton Court)
The Entertaining Retreat
(Harrow on the Hill)
The Family Retreat
(Sydenham)
The Levels Garden
(Honour Oak Park)
The No Lawn Garden
(Blackheath)
The Rooftop Garden
(Stratford)
The Dark Urban Retreat
(Twickenham)
