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1. Hepworth Court
In the summer of 2008 4 of us set out to conquer this majestic, large, 360-degrees open roof terrace. The owner, Nick Johnson, had been generous with his time, ideas and budget and the results speak for themselves. Presented here, 5 years on, the terrace had stood the test of time, albeit with one or two causalities of ambitious plant attempts and has a new owner. I wanted to document the terrace again – in maturity, not just with one of the world’s greatest garden photographers Marianne Majures, but also to benefit from the completed surroundings of the whole development and the Battersea Power Station before the demolition of its chimneys for a 4-year renovation. It was the first time we used LED light strips embedded in the surfaces and this worked well as directional lighting – particularly with the orientation towards Chelsea Bridge, the landing airplanes towards Heathrow and the surrounding linear architecture. The main planting of trees proved they were, and still are, some of the best species to cope with ferocious wind, sun and pollution: Olive, Pine and Silver birch. Other than a simple surface and the slanted planters to contrast them, the views speak for themselves: Big Ben centred in the London Eye, the arch of Wembley Stadium, the Power Station and Pumping tower, Chelsea Bridge and the BT Tower. The terrace lies on top of the penthouse and is not seen from the living space. The balcony surrounding the lounge was therefore designed in a similar fashion so that it sets a rhythm and pattern to form a cohesive scheme.
2. Kings Chelsea
This 2004 terrace is situated right above Stamford Bridge Stadium in Chelsea. It is awkwardly shaped, north facing and benefits from no significant views. It does also absorb enough pollution and has no privacy… I lifted up all the existing square tiles and re-orientated them at my favourite angle of 40 degrees; this immediately injected a dynamic to such a triangular space. I removed only a handful of bands of it at regular intervals and replaced the stone with beautiful Derbyshire lilac sandstone flags, 90cm x 45cm. These large flags made the space breath, appear larger and gave it a finesse, which keyed it perfectly with the innovatively decorated Kelly Hoppen apartment. In the south facing long terrace on the other side I planted herbs, Lavenders and even a Lemon tree…
It brought me utter joy to revisit the space after 9 years with the photographer Clive Nichols as not only the clients still live there and appreciate the space (unlike so many others who made their resale profit and moved on), but also to see all the plants do so well. Some hard landscaping maintenance had been recently carried out to repair some of the large movable raised beds, where 3 large contorted Hazels look stately in winter. As lighting techniques improved so vastly in the near decade since installation we return to add components and re-create some features. The terrace’s focal point is a graceful sculpture created specially by Elliott Brotherton for Philippa and Joe, the clients.
3. Tempus Wharf
Situated near the Design Museum on Bermondsey Wall West, Tempus Wharf is a small residential building with all the conserved charm of an old wharf. The top penthouse benefits from a terrace both on the north facing side on the River Thames and a similarly sized one on the south outside the master bedroom. Connecting the two terraces is a long and narrow walkway. The landmark views on the north terrace, outside the living room, are spectacular as the building is equally situated between Tower Bridge to the west and Canary Wharf to the east. I wanted to create a completely new series of planters, each unique – each to correspond with the architecture in the view. One of the first requests from the client was to raise the level of the terrace to be able to appreciate the Thames better. I was able to create a split level deck and orientate half of it towards Canary Wharf at 40 degrees. I Chose European Oak for the deck to continue the interior Oak and incorporated 3 width planks in a random fashion. This is contrasted with a wave shape in a sandstone deck. The step is bridged by a steppes curved planter – part of a duo which mimics the shape of the Gherkin in the distance. A triangular planter in the far corner presents a multi-stem Scots pine in a cloud form, which frames the view to Canary Wharf.
In the south terrace I wanted to reiterate the presence of water by creating a series of 3 ‘Wave planters’. These are backlit with LED strips, as are most of the planters, deck fascia, sculpture and planting on the terraces. In this terrace we also needed privacy on the sides from emerging new apartment buildings so evergreen hedges of Magnolia and Californian Lilac were planted. The long connecting terrace was paved with angular sandstone, which changes into artificial grass half way through. Interestingly enough, this is one of the very few projects where I did not use Olive trees in any shape or form; it would have been somewhat too obvious and I could spot a few on neighbouring terraces. This was a bone of contention between the two very strong minded individuals driving this project – the client and me, interestingly both born on the same day, albeit 29 years apart… The solution was to crane up both an Olive and a Scots Pine – place each in the planter and make a decision in-situ. I suppose the photograph and the health of the Pine 6 years on (I am told) inform you of the winner this time round…
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