This small front garden posed a challenging but inspiring brief: retain car access (despite no actual car being used), provide secure storage for four bicycles and bins, and create a green, welcoming space — all within a tight urban footprint. As the bike shed required step-free access, the ground level was lowered to allow smooth movement while preserving flow through the space.

Front gardens are often treated as purely functional, with most of the area given over to hard surfaces. Here, the ambition was to reverse that balance — keeping hard landscaping to a minimum and giving as much space as possible to planting. Staggered clay pavers were laid to allow generous planting pockets, softening transitions where hard surfaces meet.

Trees were key to the design — not only for shade and vertical interest, but to suggest a gentle woodland feel. A soft understorey of green planting reinforces that atmosphere, bringing a sense of calm on arrival. Bespoke timber bike and bin stores were designed to fit precisely into the space, keeping everything secure, functional, and visually quiet. Natural materials — clay, wood, and metal — connect the space to the architecture and root it in its surroundings.

Even the smallest outdoor space, when filled with nature and thoughtfully designed, can shape how we feel and influence how we interact with others.