Derek and Ayo Drew-Smith’s bare Essex plot has been revamped into a VIBRANT AND VERSATILE space for family life
GARDEN makeover
When Derek and Ayo Drew-Smith moved into their newbuild family home three years ago, they loved their fresh-as-a-daisy home but the garden left a lot to be desired. “We moved to be closer to the children’s school and liked the layout of the new development, plus once the new rail station is finished in 2026, we’ll have a convenient connection to London,” says Derek. “But we didn’t have a garden, just a wasteland! The two small patio areas weren’t practical and the rest of the space was barren. The weeds soon took hold and the space became pretty unwelcoming. We knew we had to create a garden that we could all enjoy.”
And so the search began for the right designers to achieve an outside space that would provide Derek and Ayo with the stylish entertaining area they craved but with plenty of room for their two children, aged 10 and 6, to run around.
ROOM FOR THOUGHT
After inviting round half a dozen contractors who offered free garden design, Derek and Ayo concluded that these were paving companies whose priority was to create as much hardscaping as possible. “By contrast, landscape architects would design the space for a fee. We felt this option, albeit potentially more expensive, would give us a design without any vested interests in paving,” says Derek. And so Cube 1994’s award-winning landscape architect Sean Butler (cube1994.com) was appointed.
The brief was clear. “We wanted three spaces for playing, lounging and dining, with lush planting,” explains Derek, “to create a versatile garden that reflected our personalities, that would enable us to entertain as well as being a space to live in. Also, as our lives are hectic enough, we asked for planting that would be easy-ish to maintain.”
For Sean, it was a straightforward dream to deliver. “The garden was basically a blank canvas as it’s a newbuild home, and the plot was small and overlooked,” he remembers.
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OUR GAR DEN PLAN
LOCATION Beaulieu, Essex
THE LOOK Contemporar
