03
Hardscape & structures
Paving, steps, retaining walls, drainage and built structures — the parts of a garden that carry everything else.
Reference photography of this discipline, not a completed client project.
Scope
Hard landscape sets the geometry of a garden and takes the loads. Terraces, paths, steps, walls, edges and thresholds are set out from the drawing and built to falls that move water where it should go.
Retaining structures are designed for the ground they hold, with drainage behind the face rather than trapped water. Where an engineer's input is appropriate, we say so rather than working around it.
Material is chosen for how it wears, not only how it photographs: stone, brick, concrete, timber and steel each age differently underfoot and in weather.