Epping Forest Project

Location: CITY OF LONDON

Project Views

Set within the wooded fringe of Epping Forest, just north of London, this striking contemporary garden mirrors the bold architecture of the home it surrounds.

Designed in close collaboration with Red Squirrel Architects, the space integrates poured concrete forms, shadow-gapped platforms, and layered foliage planting to create a garden that feels like a true extension of the home. With sloping topography, expansive glazing, and a strong modernist character, this project called for a design that could match the drama of the house while delivering a calm, liveable outdoor retreat.

Gallery

Features

Architectural Collaboration – Created in partnership with Red Squirrel Architects to form a unified vision between building and landscape.
Sloped Garden Transformed – The natural incline of the site is used to sculpt a multi-level experience, rather than being flattened or disguised.Stone Archway: Offers glimpses through the garden, enhancing the sense of depth and intrigue.
Statement Front Garden – A striking arrival experience with an elegant driveway, a sculptural olive tree, and softly textural borders blending hard and soft elements.
Central Water Rill – A long, narrow water feature draws the eye from inside the house, creating a meditative focal point visible through large panes of glass.
Tree Fern Feature Planting – Bold use of Dicksonia antarctica adds sculptural form and lush greenery close to the home’s exterior.
Poured Concrete Platforms – Shadow-gapped concrete terraces create clean transitions between levels, with precision detailing that echoes the home’s contemporary lines.
Outdoor Kitchen & Dining Area – A dedicated alfresco space allows for relaxed summer gatherings, perfectly positioned for views and connection to the interior.
Textural Planting Palette – A foliage-focused scheme softens the structure with grasses, ferns and perennials chosen for subtle movement and year-round interest.
Garden Lighting Scheme – Discreet, low-level lighting highlights architectural lines and planting silhouettes, making the space feel warm and usable into the evening.
Symbiotic Interior–Exterior Design – The garden is designed as an extension of the open-plan interior, blurring the boundary between inside and out.

Details

Located in the heart of Epping Forest’s leafy edge, this project set out to deliver a landscape that didn’t just match the home’s modern architecture — it enhanced it. With large-format glazing opening out onto the garden, the brief was clear: the outdoor space had to function as a visual extension of the open-plan interior, with just as much attention to materiality, flow, and detail.
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The front garden establishes the tone, balancing practicality with drama. The driveway subtly funnels the eye toward the front door, anchored by a mature olive tree — a living sculpture set within a soft, restrained planting palette. This combination of strong geometry and loose natural forms sets the scene for what lies beyond.

In the rear garden, a significant slope provided both a challenge and an opportunity. Rather than working against the land, the design embraces it, carving out a sequence of terraces using poured concrete platforms with elegant shadow gaps. These crisp planes create level transitions that feel sculptural and intentional, guiding movement through the space without the need for traditional steps or heavy retaining structures.

At the centre of the garden is a slender water rill, its reflective surface catching light and drawing the eye from the interior. Framed perfectly by the architecture, it creates a serene connection between house and garden — a visual axis that ties everything together. Planting close to the home is intentionally bold, with architectural tree ferns adding height and drama while softening the lines of the hardscape.

Further into the garden, an outdoor kitchen and dining area provide a space for entertaining, thoughtfully positioned for sun and privacy. A restrained material palette allows the planting to take centre stage, with textural foliage offering contrast against the concrete and adding depth to the composition. At night, low-level lighting illuminates the structure and soft plant silhouettes, turning the garden into a calming, ambient space visible from indoors.

More than just an aesthetic exercise, this design navigates complex levels and strong architectural cues to produce a garden that feels truly connected to its setting. It’s a space designed for everyday living, entertaining, and quiet contemplation, where the house and garden speak the same design language.

Wyndham-Smith is a Midlands-based garden design studio creating award-worthy outdoor spaces across the UK, including London, Epping Forest, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and beyond.