duncan heather & Associates GREYSTONE COLMORE LANE KINGWOOD OXON RG9 5NA t:+44 (0)1491 628972 e: info@garden-design.org w: www.garden-design.org Feasibility Study For: Mr & Mrs David Yates The New House Ascott, Shipston-on-Stour Warwickshire CV36 5PP Prepared by Duncan Heather Feb 12 th 2008
The New House Layout Proposal Context The New House consists of a detached Cotswold stone building sited in a 9500m² plot on the outskirts of Ascott Nr Witchford Warwickshire. The house itself is situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty but is not in a conservation area and therefore will not require special Planning consent for such items as pools and tennis courts Whilst the entrance to the property is through the village centre, it has a rural feel, being bounded to the side by open meadow. The left hand side and rear boundaries of the property are adjacent to other gardens, with the entrance area fronting a main road. The house itself is constructed of Cotswold stone walls with a stone tiled roof. and has an ugly prefabricated double garage space to the back of the property, Site commentary This describes the site as it exists now and identifies the negative and positive attributes Front garden to the street Contained within metal railings with a gate to a front door that is no longer used The rest of the area is paved or planted up. The paving is unattractive and the planting overgrown and fails to set the house off to its best advantage Side Public Garden Access to the front door is via a lawned side garden through a dilapidated tiled porch The area is separated from the drive via a low stone wall with an attractive outlook from the house over the meadow There is no access to the house via the drive so shopping and guests are made to walk some distance to the front door The major feature of the site is a mature Cedar tree which appears in good health and although at present is not subject to a TPO (tree preservation order) may have one instated as a result of the building work Walled Garden The back garden is North facing and around 40m long from the kitchen wall to the end and surrounded on two sides but a 3m high brick wall. It has the potential to provide an attractive and useable space, but is currently structured in such a way that only a small proportion of it is used on a regular basis. The majority of the garden is laid to lawn and is in a poor state Patio area Is a shady south facing terrace surround on 3 sides by the building It has little visual interest and no planting and is currently not a place where you would wish to spend time At the end of the house is a large conservatory with is in the process of being demolished and will eventually be replaced with an Orangery with will increase the kitchen area as well as providing a place of indoor exotic plants
Inner Courtyard There is an artist studio and rear courtyard area to the back of the house. This area is devoid of interest being laid mainly to concrete crazy paving, It is completely isolated being separated from the main terrace area by a brick wall and has a telegraph pole which needs to be moved The Driveway This is the most serious problem of the site as it divided the garden in half completely separating the walled garden with the meadow Pool House The pool house currently reinforces the this dived but will be removed and eventually open up views to the meadow The Meadow Occupies over half the plot size and consists of rough pasture with fruit trees. There is an old tennis court situated in the bottom corner and suggest that we establish the meadow area with the planners as garden curtilidge prior to its removal
Design proposal This area contains the suggested design solutions for the site It was very important to the clients that the garden appeared as natural as possible To this end it is proposed to divide the site up into 3 main areas i) Private back garden with Flower borders ii) Semi Natural Garden linking walled garden with the meadow iii) Wild flower meadow and pond
Front Garden The railings will need to be stripped repaired and re-painted The gate to the front door although redundant, will be kept and used as access. The paving/planting will be removed and a gravel path introduce, running the length of the area with a circular turning area (very much like the existing front garden path) positioned outside the largest window on the left hand side as you look at the house from the road and will surround a Urn or piece of sculpture. To either side of the path, we will plant up with cottage garden plants to soften the building Drive, Garage and Public Arrival Space The most radical area to be re-planned, it was stated above that there was no car access to the house for unloading shopping, The drive cut the garden in half, the parking area was too far from the house and there was little or no sense of arrival. I propose to build a new garage with additional log store and lock-up for garden tool/machinery etc and reposition this in front and to the side of the old pool house so we can utilises as much of the existing drive as possible I will then move the existing stone wall from the left hand side of the drive to the right hand side; and end it at the new garage I will build a new L-shaped wall from the orangery to the new garage and add a turning circle around the Cedar tree This will create a walled garden feel to the front entrance area and provide total privacy to the back garden. It will allow uninterrupted views of the meadow from the house but now allow car access to a new door in the wall to the side of the orangery for unloading shopping. There will be additional car paring for three cars to the side of the garage and a new farm gate giving access to the meadow. New planting will be added to the front of the house to soften the building but otherwise this area will be kept very simple to encourage the views of the meadow Back Terrace, Artist Courtyard & Walled Garden This is a shady area and will get vey little sun. If you entertain in the evening the sun is not a consideration so a dining/entertaining area will be introduced close to the house and new orangery, but the area will also be linked to the artist courtyard by removing the back shed and a section of wall. This will allow more light into the drawing room s new windows, and also improve access to the studio. This area would then be used as an external gallery for art and sculpture, which will occupy both the studio courtyard with the main terrace. A water feature would also be added to the main terrace to add interest and the sound of running water to the house Finally it is proposed to site a new smaller sun terrace in the top left hand side of the walled garden to give view both back to the house and across the garden to the new pond As for the remaining walled garden, it is proposed to leave this area relatively unchanged except to replace the planting with new cottage garden plants Meadow and Pond Once the pool house is removed it will open up fantastic views of the meadow and for the first time since the old drive was installed the garden will be linked to the meadow It is proposed to treat this area very simply using just cut grass and wild flower meadow. The new lawn area will encourage you to walk from the new sun terrace in the walled garden, to the new pond and its suggested that a summer house and jetty be built to the side of the lake to give uninterrupted views of the meadow and surrounding countryside The meadow itself will be planted with spring bulbs and the fruit trees will be properly restored but otherwise this area would remain unchanged (see plan above)
The design process Upon instruction, a detailed site survey will be carried out which will either be commissioned locally or carried out by our office. We will then prepare an initial sketch plan for the proposed work, which will act as a basis for further discussion with you. The plans can be further analysed and altered where necessary. Once we have agreed the basis of the design with you, and gained your formal approval for the plan, we will prepare detailed working drawings, specifications and tender documentation for contractors. Planting plans are also produced for the entire garden or specific area agreed with you, showing the species of plants recommended and their positioning and spacing We manage the building of the garden by first preparing tender documentation and then inviting landscape contractors to prepare formal quotes for the work. We work closely with carefully selected firms whose workmanship and professionalism are well known. We will act as project managers for the complete project, liaising between client and contractor(s); approving payment to the contractor(s) and signing off the work at its conclusion. Planting your garden We supply plants of the highest quality and at competitive prices form carefully selected nurseries. Once the garden is built, we will deliver the plants and lay them out according to the planting plan ready for the contractor or gardener to plant. Cost estimates (construction and planting) We calculate cost estimates of the project, based on a price per square metre, to provide you with a basic estimate of what we expect the scheme to cost. For a garden of this size with significant hard landscaping and detailing, and associated problems of poor access, we estimate that you will need to budget for 50-100 per square metre. This excludes any cost of sculpture to be commissioned for the garden. The overall area for the garden requiry landscaping is roughly 3000 square metres. On this basis, we recommend that you will need to budget for somewhere in the region of 150-300,000 plus VAT. Design and management fees We structure our design and management fees on a sliding scale based on a percentage cost of the garden. This is the same method as used by architects. Our charges are broken down into 5 separate stages (Client guide to fees) PTO
Model of new entrance area show garage, turning circle and the old stone walled moved from the left hand side of the drive to the right (The old wall, gate and entrance path has been left on the plan to show its old position)
Model of new entrance area show garage, turning circle and the old stone walled moved from the left hand side of the drive to the right As well as the new wall from the Orangery to the garage
View showing the existing walled garden with the new Orangery new sun terrace (bottom left hand corner) as well as the view from the walled garden after the pool house has been removed (The old drive outline as well as the pool house foot print has been left to illustrate their old positions)
View from above the new pond showing the jetty and summer house in the bottom right hand corner looking back toward the existing walled garden and new front drive and garage (The exist drive outline has been left to illustrate its old position on the plan)
Birds eye view of garden showing new pond (Top left hand corner) and jetty with existing Meadow to the left (Tennis court outline has been left to illustrate old position)