A large country garden design accommodating a new modern extension designed by Glyn Owen at The Designworks Studio. The challenge was to design a series of patio spaces set out over changing levels that serve different areas of the house, working together in one large composition to create a multi-functional garden. The style ranges from formal, contemporary around the house to an open, traditional, informal layout in the lower garden with a meandering path running downhill towards the pond. A modern outdoor room with a hot tub is the perfect fit to enjoy watching the sun go down in those warm summer evenings.

Outdoor patio living at it's best with a purpose built rendered wall enclosure that harbours a microclimate for lush evergreen planting to thrive. Inside is a large area for barbequing and dining with composite timber decking surrounded by black limestone paving and granite setts. A secluded seating area is located off to the side with an outdoor fireplace where you can keep warm after sunset.

Garden Design and Build Project with Dunn Landscapes

A large country garden just outside Belfast with plenty of space including an orchard and two large ponds but lacking any kind of shape or purpose. The design focused on the main patio area directly outside the house by creating a multi-functional series of interacting spaces to provide the very best of outdoor living and entertainment. Luxury features such as a hot tub swimming machine, bar area, outdoor kitchen with dining area, and sunken seating area with firepit were incorporated into the design. The view towards the rest of the garden is what really makes it and with a few alterations to the ponds and the surrounding space - the garden can become a landscape to explore with a garden folly focal point sitting at the top of the hill drawing you out towards it.

A new side entrance from the house opens onto a natural stone patio with composite timber seating and cantilever bar table. This entertainment area stretches out through a raised granite sett walkway looking onto a modern outdoor studio - accessed via a curved ramp made of Exposa concrete. This architectural feature cuts through a sea of grasses which flood the foreground creating a sense of movement and rhythm - highlighted further through the bold backdrop of the three overlapping walls.

A large garden design project for a contemporary dwelling designed by Glyn Owen at The Designworks Studio. The design concept looked to compliment the architectural style of the new building by replicating the bold geometric outlines into the landscape. This was achieved with block rendered walls and modern timber fencing which extend out from the house, carving out individual spaces. A series of beech hedging and lime trees reinforced this concept with a balance of soft and hard boundaries that collectively make up a patchwork layout. The strong sweeping curve of the driveway meanders through each space breaking through the boundaries and creating an opportunity for movement and circulation between each space.

A sunken courtyard garden built with retaining block walls and faced in reclaimed Belfast brick has created a micro-climate and sun trap for planting to thrive. The client can relax on the sandstone patio surrounded by low brick piers which run along the edge of the lawn and into the rustic oak pergola where there is a custom built barbeque with it's very own Belfast sink.

Garden Design and Build Project with Dunn Landscapes

A very sensitive project considering the local heritage associated with the site and it’s central location off the ever busy Lisburn road. This lovingly restored listed Victorian Gothic style gate lodge which used to serve Methodist College required a multi-functional garden that could also serve as a driveway. The shape of the garden is dictated by very sharp diagonal lines of granite sett bands cutting through the open space drawing your eye to the front door. This pattern resonates with the diamond pattern of the original windows and the inside of each diamond is paved in either natural stone flag or setts making up an irregular patchwork, typical of the Arts and Crafts period.

The garden is made up of two distinct styles: a traditional layout for the front garden and a contemporary design for the back to accommodate a modern extension.

The front garden incorporates a curved gravel driveway with granite edging which wraps around the house. The curve is reinforced by a beech hedge which borders the drive, broken into sections allowing restricted views into the garden such as the feature specimen tree and lavender bed located by the front door.

The back garden is made up of a series of small spaces created by strong structural elements such as the contemporary timber pergola and box and beech hedging that help divide up the garden. An open lawn forms the largest space, followed by three areas of natural stone patio connected through smaller pockets of natural stone setts. Planting is made up of colourful herbaceous perennials mixed with waves of ornamental grasses.

The landscape design had to incorporate three brand new timber glamping pods into a new holiday park within the grounds of an old stone walled enclosure in County Louth, Ireland - including an area for vehicle access with parking bays, private patios with hot tubs and a communal seating enclosure with putting greens. The key was to create private spaces for each pod that also received the most sun throughout the day.

Landscape Design and Build with Nature At Work

A garden transformation from what was a very steep unusable space to a multi-level landscape with a contemporary black limestone patio area with curved white rendered block walls in the upper garden. These walls combined to make up a series of architectural terraced planters laid out in a radial pattern along with the steps which descended onto the lower garden.

A secluded town garden with an elevated summer house overlooks a sunken granite sett seating area hidden from the main house by a low brick wall with a raised circular lawn. The large open space was divided into two smaller areas connected via an opening through a double box hedge and single row of multi-stem Birch trees. The summer house is accessed by climbing up composite timber steps onto a new concrete base which cantilevers out over the edge.

Garden Design and Build Project with Dunn Landscapes

A large contemporary garden design in South Belfast follows a geometric pattern of squares and rectangles which overlap to form large stone patio areas and small delicate areas of planting. The lawn has a large raised square, central to the whole garden. There are many examples of architectural features being used all over such as the tall corten steel pergola which leads onto the outdoor kitchen.

A stylish front garden with an asphalt driveway bordered with granite sett bands and low evergreen planting. A clever vista runs from the side to the back garden through a perennial border with box and concrete cubes - on through a bespoke metal pergola which leads to an existing large Acer tree. The minimal styled back garden has porcelain paving which extend out from the modern extension.

Garden Design and Build Project with Dunn Landscapes

Design and build for large back garden outside Comber.

A contemporary design for a small front and back garden utilising modern architectural materials such as metal fencing and charcoal brick pavers. The design of the back centres around a hardwood table feature which serves three different areas of the garden and is pivotal to the whole design. Although space is limited the experience of walking through the garden becomes more stimulating by deliberately altering the levels for each surface, so the garden becomes a place to be explored.

The design of the front garden fits a simple formal layout encompassing a large raised square lawn with a single specimen tree. This creates the right balance with the asphalt driveway bordered with granite setts.

Design and Build Project with Nature At Work