When creating a sanctuary, away from the demands of everyday life, there are an infinite number of decisions to be made both inside and out. For the eighth year, COUNTRY LIFE suggests experts in architecture, interior design and gardens who are well versed in the nuances of creating a new home or bringing an old one back to life
WE shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us,’ said Sir Winston Churchill in 1943. He was referring to the House of Commons, which had been badly damaged in a bombing two years before. But he could have been referring to any building, large or small, where we choose to make our homes and which do so much to affect us both practically and emotionally.
The reason COUNTRY LIFElaunched its Top 100 was to shine a light on the breadth and depth of creativity and expertise available to anyone planning to build or transform a home. What is exciting is not only the arrival of new talent, but also the evolution of established practitioners embracing the possibilities of evolving technology.
Not only do the best architects and designers preserve traditional craft skills, but they also exploit the possibilities of these new ideas. Increasingly, they are responding to the challenges of pressing issues, such as sustainability and the way that lifestyles have changed since the covid pandemic. It is these tectonic shifts that make architecture, gardens and interiors such a fascinating area —and one where Britain leads the world.
New entries to the Top 100
Known for magical designs brimming with plants, Butter Wakefield heads a small multiaward-winning studio in west London, taking on projects across the capital and the South. American by birth, Mrs Wakefield moved to London in 1988, working as an interior-design assistant at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler before setting up her own practice. She credits this experience with deepening her understanding of design, form, scale, texture and colour, evident in her gardens, which skilfully blend soft and romantic pollinator-friendly planting with carefully considered hard landscaping.
Current projects include the reimagining of a garden for a family house in East Sussex, featuring a gravel garden, wildflower meadow, terrace with deep herbaceous borders, cutting garden with oak-sleeper raised beds and a re-developed orchard. She is also working on interior designer Rita Konig’s garden in Notting Hill, London W11, which will be shown as part of her gardening-design course Research by Amelia Thorpe on Create Academy (www.create academy. com), launching later this year, and on a garden for interior designer Joanna Plant.
‘I enjoy working alongside interior designers, becau
