Charlotte Rowe was asked to create a contemporary garden for a young couple who were re-styling a recently bought mid-19th century town house in Notting Hill in central London. The client wanted increased privacy as well as a wow factor and was keen to use a pale, cool colour palette and high spec finishes with rich, lush planting for all year round interest.

The site is quite long and narrow and the garden had been recently been rebuilt by the vendors of the property in a style which did not reflect the new owners' taste. The other challenge was that the garden was on two different levels with a couple of unattractive staircases providing access from the lower ground floor and mezzanine level. These stairs pushed right into the garden, wasting valuable space.

"The client wanted increased privacy as well as a wow factor"

The solution was to lower the level of the main part of the garden quite substantially and rationalise the stairs so that more space could be used for the garden itself. This had two other benefits, the view from the lower ground floor to the garden is now greatly improved and additional privacy has been achieved in the garden by pushing the level of the garden down.

"The planting is contained and rhythmic with a rich green, cream and blue/purple palette"