Rustic Slate Terrace Project Raynes Park
This Raynes Park terrace project presented an exciting set of challenges. One-half of the garden was at the same level as the kitchen door. The garden once was the concrete base of a garage before the owners chose to demolish this. The other half was about a 600mm drop down to the lawn level. This split-level arrangement made the first half of the garden difficult to use. With limited space, the patio area of the garden was practically unusable.
After an initial visit and consultation with our clients, it was decided to unify the level by building a low retaining wall and back-filling. This allowed us to backfill with aggregates to create one full-level concrete platform across the back of the house. The perfect platform on which to set beautiful slate paving.
As part of the plans, we pushed the change of level further out into the garden. This allowed for the design and construction of generous central steps ensuring the transition between levels was both aesthetically pleasing and safe. The steps came with lighting set between two rendered raised beds leading down to the lower lawn level.
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The raining flanking wall of the old garage remained as a boundary to the property. The team rendered and painted this and included a selection of well-positioned rendered shelves. These were used to accommodate resin window boxes in charcoal grey. We matched the grey colour with some large resin cube planters that we placed on the new patio bringing the whole new design together.
A lot of thought and consideration went into what type of natural stone we would use for the project. Our clients specified that they wanted a contemporary style with a hint of traditional to match the age of their home. Rustic slate was the ideal solution and looked stunning.
The slate works well in this contemporary setting while, at the same time, the copper colour tones suggest a more rustic style to compliment the house.
A new lawn was leveled and laid and we also added stepping stones which allowed dry access to the garden office at the end of the garden.
