Marylebone shared courtyard

Brief:

A large, neglected space between two London town houses required updating to create an attractive outdoor space and improve the vista from both dwellings.

Design:

The space is divided by a screen of slatted hardwood timber trellis, allowing privacy on both sides. Pale limestone gravel with beige sawn and sandblasted sandstone paving bring light into the courtyard. A standard Amelanchier lamarckii provides seasonal colour changes with white blossom in spring and stunning red foliage in autumn. Box balls are planted in the gravel, with raised planters on either side of a built-in timber seat.