HAckney

Here we created a new 5m x 5m roof garden for a graphic designer with a mix of contemporary Japanese and Scandinavian taste and a passion for wild and naturalistic planting. The Client was inspired by the planting at the Serpentine Pavilion of 2011 by Piet Oudolf and asked us to recreate this on a roof terrace.

This was not to be a low maintenance garden as the Client and her young daughter are keen gardeners. An existing mature olive tree was all that was retained and this set the tone for a Mediteranean feel. This gave scope to use a wide variety of sun loving evergreen flowering and non- flowering shrubs and plants in tones of pink and purple and white, along with Japanese blood grass and other ornamental grasses.  The raised stepped beds were filled with a mixture of compost and perlite to mimizie their weight and increase the water retention property of the soil. 
During construction the existing olive tree was taken off site and planting in the ground while we created a whole new roof structure, with new decking in burnt cedar, outdoor kitchen clad in shou sugi ban charred cedar with BBQ and polished concrete work stop and a seating area.  A new custom made skylight was also installed to allow more light and easy access from the internal stairs. 
On completion of the hard landscaping the Olive tree was craned back in along with two new gnarled mature olive trees.