Emerson Park - Essex

Working with designer Arlette Garcia, we built this extensive 2,200m2 landscaping scheme for a private garden in Hornchurch, Essex. The design brief was to create a large area for parties and entertainment with a holiday spirit and provide an eclectic mix of distinct spaces around the garden to provide interest throughout the year. Our brief as lead contractor, was to work with the designer to detail and deliver a project that honoured the design intent as closely as possible, while ensuring that all technical aspects were resolved to a high level of detail.

A new, relocated swimming pool built by Centurion Leisure, formed a centre point to our hard landscaped areas arranged and laid outwards from the house, associated with richly planted seating areas, poolside lounging, hot tub areas, a sunken fire pit with handcrafted Balau bench seating, and a burner. Either side of this area is flanked by garden structures with a 35m2 oak frame gazebo with a tiled roof housing an outdoor kitchen and a covered dining and seating area.

Two water features add movement and sound to the garden. The first is a 6.5m long rill with a Morus alba umbrella canopy that continues a watery axis from the swimming pool and hot tub, leading to a wildflower meadow. The rill is straddled by a gravel garden with herbaceous planting. The second water feature is a large half spherical bowl with a single water jet and a semicircular backdrop wall feature. Located to the side of the house, the feature provides a focal point from the patio seating area and leads to the gravel garden which is another distinct area adjacent to the house.

Photographs by Clive Nichols