SIMPLY STYLISH

Inspired by the courtyards of Barcelona, this gorgeous garden in London is a delight

It’s not often that plants growing randomly out of a wall in a neglected plot go on to inspire its transformation into a spectacular garden, but that’s exactly what happened with Nuria Garcia’s outdoor space. When she moved into her Victorian terraced home in London’s Shepherd’s Bush with her partner Charles Tyler, the house needed gutting and the garden was a mass of rubble. Ferns were flourishing in a severely damp wall, which stood in deep shade. Nuria longed for a garden that reminded her of her childhood in Barcelona. ‘I wanted to recreate the courtyard gardens of my youth,’ she explains. ‘Many had ancient walls and contrasts of strong sunlight, deep shadow and dappled shade.’ The couple enlisted the help of garden designer Adolfo Harrison, who had lived in the Spanish city. He recognised not only that the different types of brickwork in the dilapidated walls surrounding the plot would evoke the Barcelona courtyards, with their layering of past and present, but also that the damp, shady wall would make the perfect spot for a water feature, while the ferns were the ideal signature plant. Like many inner-city gardens, this one is overlooked, so the design needed to keep people’s gaze within the four walls, and ensure privacy without blocking out too much light. Very much an outdoor extension, the garden works in perfect harmony with the house. Large grey limestone slabs were used both indoors and out and created the garden’s grid. The only other materials selected were red cedar for a bisecting path and the floor and pergola of the outdoor dining area, and painted wood for trellising and panelling. Everything is designed in threes. There are three separate living areas: a wide terrace leading from the house; a south-facing

‘I wanted to recreate the COURTYARD gardens of my youth, with contrasts of strong SUNLIGHT, deep SHADOW and dappled shade’