INSIDE OUT
A garden designed by Charlotte Rowe enhances a recently converted former Salvation Army hall in Islington with stunning new open-plan living areas
When Mark Baxter and Robert Bready decided to extend their Islington home – a former Victorian schoolhouse that had more latterly been used as a Salvation Army hall – by digging down into the basement, their first quandary was how to bring sufficient light into their new open-plan kitchen. Their solution to that dilemma – installing doubleheight, steel-framed windows that link the kitchen with the sitting room above – brought a new problem. If much of the rear wall of their house was to be replaced by a huge wall of glass, their outdoor space would be on display from most of the house most of the time. Now they would need a garden that would not only provide a view worthy of its stylish frame, but also match the style of their home and offer year-round interest.
Step forward designer Charlotte Rowe, who had already designed two roof terraces for the couple and was sympathetic to their preferred contemporary style. Thanks to her early collaboration with the architects, she was also able to overcome some of the challenges of digging out the basement and turn the new lower level to her advantage. “Fortunately, we were there at the beginning before a spade had gone into the ground,” she says.
Charlotte’s decision to dig out the bottom area of the garden next to the house means that Mark and Robert can now walk straight from their kitchen into the garden and by creating two tiers Charlotte was able to squeeze three areas for entertaining into a tight
space without compromising on style. “Mark and Robert wanted a breakfast area in the morning sun, a dining space, another seating area and a fireplace,” she explains.
The fireplace now forms a focal point for the enclosed sitting area on the upper (original) level of the garden, and it has been positioned so it aligns centrally when viewed from the house. Complementary shades of grey help differentiate the separate areas while linking the garden as a whole to the house with a polished, grey concrete floor. The grey palette also helps to emphasise the planting, including various clematis, Agapanthus ‘Black Pantha’ and Euphorbia characias ‘Humpty Dumpty’, which helps to soften the sharp lines of the landscaping. In particular, a row of dwarf bamboo, Pleioblastus pygmaeus ‘Distichus’, breaks the height of the top tier, making it feel less imposing.
As the garden is overlooked by neighbouring houses, a desire for privacy was also high on the couple’s wish list. “Mark and Robert wanted a really mature tree to create privacy, so we used a crane to lift a holm oak over the top of the property into the garden, closing the road,” says Charlotte. Climbers, such as Trachelospermum jasminoides, Hydrangea seemanii and Akebia quinata ‘Shirobana’, help prevent the high walls from feeling oppressive and combine with other soft planting to give this urban courtyard the feel of a woodland clearing. “You can sit here with a book and feel totally secluded,” says Robert.
This is a garden where technical knowledge and design meet, but for Charlotte, it is atmosphere that is the most important thing.“The green planting against the different shades of grey, and the privacy and peace, are lovely,” she says.