Westbrook House
Location: A grade II listed building and associated outbuildings within a 3 acre site near Chippenham, Wiltshire.
The client: A family with two young children aged 7 and 4. This is the clients’ forever home.
The brief: To bring cohesion and flow to a relatively large site with several distinct areas. Provide areas for entertaining, relaxation and growing vegetables with year round interest in planting. The overall design and materials needed to be chosen sensitively to complement the existing architecture of the house.
Driveway & entrance: A greater sense of arrival has been created at the front of the house. A Taxus baccata parterre provides structure balanced with soft, romantic planting of roses, perennials and grasses. Naturalised bulbs in the surrounding grass herald the start of Spring and rustic cobbles in the driveway and courtyard are a nod to the site’s agricultural past.
Dining terrace: This has been enlarged to accommodate an outdoor kitchen, dining area and shaded seating for relaxation to encourage connection with extended family and friends. Vibrant, joyful planting surrounds this space.
Meadow areas: The looser form of Fagus sylvatica hedging softens the area around the tennis court, surrounded by contrasting meadow areas to attract beneficial pollinators. Elegant, Spring blossom of Malus trees brings colour and nectar, underplanted with meadow grass, Spring bulbs and frothy umbels of Anthriscus sylvestris.
Modern terrace: A modern building housing a gym and swimming pool needed a different approach. A terrace of clay pavers is surrounded by relaxed planting into gravel. Multi-stemmed Amelanchier lamarckii soften this area and provide a sense of enclosure. Contoured Fagus sylvatica hedging around the tennis court is designed to echo the shape of a rowing oar, a reference to the client’s time as a rowing cox.
Sculpture: Stone cairns at key focal points throughout the garden have been designed to use existing stone from on site.
Garden buildings: A new area for growing vegetables and fruit features a glasshouse and shepherd’s hut - for home working, intimate dining and a children’s den.
Images below show master layout plans, a selection of concept mood boards and 3d visuals.
