A retirement property with great personal meaning to its owner, the house had been left to them by a close friend. In that same spirit of friendship, they imagined a new life here: semi-retirement alongside offering occasional respite care for elderly guests and a summer pop-up restaurant.

The garden therefore needed to do many things — to be exciting and diverse in its planting, with a long flowering period; entirely accessible without steps; and to provide formal dining space and different places for sitting alongside a productive quality to the space. Our studio also designed and constructed a year-round garden building for flexible use.

Responding to this unusual brief and the character of the place, I imagined a garden with formal references to Oxford’s historic quads. Within a small walled space, the idea of the quad focuses attention inwards. A paved courtyard lit from above and characterful mixed planting create a sense of enclosure and structure, while changing continually throughout the year. Fruit and vegetables grown in raised oak beds connect the garden to the productive landscape of the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside.