Living in the landscape

Andy Sturgeon’s skilful design roots a contemporary home in its natural surroundings with a garden of two halves – wild and formal

For an award-winning modern house on the South Downs, designer Andy Sturgeon has created a contemporary garden of two halves – wild and formal

Award- winning architecture creates its own challenges for the garden that surrounds it – neither should dominate, or they will never sit comfortably with one another. When this contemporary glass and timber home in rural West Sussex replaced an unremarkable house surrounded by paddocks, its owners wanted to create an appropriate setting for their new home – a garden that would root it in the landscape. They decided that garden designer Andy Sturgeon was the man for the job. With his architectural approach, they were sure he would be able to work with their architect and they were attracted by his use of wild and colourful planting. The feeling was mutual. Working on a new-build property with clients who are already interested in design is the type of job that Andy likes best. Much of the lower floor of the house is glazed and transparent, and has been designed to blur the distinction between indoors and outdoors. Andy felt the expansive views towards the South Downs at the front of the property should not be interrupted by a garden. “I didn’t want to compete with those views,” he says. Instead – beyond the terrace and a velvety strip of lawn – Andy has planted extensive wildflower meadows that lead the eye out into the wider landscape. Broad, curving mown paths wind through them, inviting exploration. Hornbeams, oaks, katsuras and field maples line the newly snaking driveway and are strategically planted in groups to allow glimpses of the house on the approach. Bunds formed to the southwest of the house are also planted with a meadow mix. They break the previously flat view (a legacy of the former paddocks) and conceal a useful utility area for bonfires and composting.

The mood behind the house is very different – here there is more of a feeling of enclosure, which is defined not only by the buildings but also by a row of trees that form the northern boundary. “My clients and I agreed that a formal, contemporary house needed a formal, contemporary garden and I felt this was the right place to put it,” says Andy. “I designed it so that as you pull up in your car you can see the front door, but to reach it

PHOTOGRAPHS RACHEL WARNE Curving wildflower meadows and informal areas of mown grass sweep up to the awardwinning glass and wood house, allowing uninterrupted views towards the South Downs. 32

Above Mature trees on the boundary give a feeling of enclosure to the garden at the rear of the house. Tucked in among the planting, which includes the tall Turkish sage Phlomis russeliana and the bright-orange Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty, is one of several seating areas that allow the owners to follow the sun.