what makes design important.

Recently having met a number of clients each with a set of needs which comprise of function,practicality,use of materials and finally pricing I was considering the balance between these elements and designing with a creative approach. An approach that allows the designer to
use there knowledge of materials ,function and finally the vision of what can be created
within the pricing structure.
Materials can be used with respect to form ,texture coloring as well as structural aspects
in a visual as well as practical sense.
We have a number of projects that have been planned and each client has brought both energy and a
keen awareness of these aspects. Very different factors but all equally exciting. I will update and provide the images to reflect these processes .

view across completed garden

Here is a recently completed garden design comprising of patio ,pergola and large water . Designed with a simple focus to make a previously unusable area into a space for the future needs of the client and there family;a garden for play,interactive, multi functional with 3 dedicated areas. The water feature is designed to be a space where the children can play ,imagine and enjoy. The raised patio with planters provides space for a wooden cabin and a home for the rabbit ,fluffy. Finally the pergola covers the patio where the pool is placed during the warmer months. It has been exciting to work on the project and to see the garden evolve .

elements of hard landscaping

Here is the water feature in context behind walling and a planter. The stone is locally sourced and forms a

retaining run which descends over three levels back to the pump which is below ground level. There are a number of areas with standing stones that will be used as raised beds and will be planted with ferns and hosta's & succulants. These will over time provide color and contrast ,most importantly planting will be fragrant,colorful visually exciting.

against the odds....!

What a day it has been i don't complain about rain as it is essential but for a moment or two as it fell down my back ,then crystalized into hail, planting lost its appeal as much as you try a retreat was called for.We are working on completing a beautiful garden that we have landscaped over the last two months.

It is time to plant which is always exciting as surfaces are softened and shade color and tone bring the elements together. 

Hedge planting march-april

Having had to remove many trees due to various issues it is great to have the opportunity to plant and replace stock which is encouraged by many tree officers. Here you can see around 70 metres of hedging which includes blackthorn , quickthorn, crab apple wild rose and a number of other species. The stock was purchased from David Ross and on botanical online. Hedging is a viable option for boundries in rural and urban areas its also environmentally sound .
We are seeing increased demand for replacement hedging and new areas of planting encouraged by schools wishing to develop wild gardens.

Re Surfacing of large drive in Adlington

The drive was full off moss and weeds and no edgeing was used

and the grass and lawn had begun to collapse and

to encroach onto the drive. There was no liner and no

edging or drainage. Firstly the drive was scraped back so a new

geotec liner could be laid and the edges secured under stone edging

that was sourced from a local quarry. The choice of staffordshire red

was used to reflect the brick in the house, as you can see it is red cheshire

brick. To finish the drive was cobbled at roadside . As you can see the 

effect is in keeping with the house and the client was very happy.We 

supplied the liner free as in the long term term the drive be weed free. 

Treework in disley 2

View looking at the property where branches had begun
to touch windows ,reduce light and cause blokages
in the gutters of leafdrop

View of silver birch once the lower branches
have been removed
This is termed crown lifting.

treework in disley

This Silver Birch was beginning to envelop both gardens ,effecting ground conditions and plant growth. The client asked that the tree be reduced and
shaped ,with the provision that shape and structure remained. There can be
difficulty in maintaining the trees health and managing the the needs of clients we have to look towards standards and longevity.We have seen the increased
use of pollarding across main limbs of trees beyond termination points thus
reducing the ability of the tree to recover and send out new growth.It is important to balance needs with acceptable standards in Treework . This is a point which I hope people become aware when considering employing tree surgeons.

innovation in design.

The process of designing spaces is the most challenging,despite all reference material
and the many books there is the innovation and the
development of a language that defines one or a number of attitudes and expressions present and sought in each project.
Function,form,material interaction,shape,texture colour,innovation,sensation,reverence,movement are present in all. The latest project combines a breif to create a funtional space that will follow and create dimensions of interaction that is both flexible and adaptive.One element of this is the stone bridge that floats over water that flows itself upon hand carved stone linths, sound ,light and serenity combined with incidental spaces to captivate and transfix. We are looking to develop themes that combine elements that creates a sybiosis of captured elements.

dark daiz

One day is delight another dark,little sign of blue azure amidst rolling clouds across panoramic hills. The day is full of contrast. We visited a quarry on kerridge to buy stone today the place is about to close and after 32 years the only guy there has been told he is out of a job.The pressures economic and personal are evident but they are neither summed up as part of percentages or collective verbs,human stories that connect with other peoples lives.The quarry is a mechanical graveyard that reflects a gradual decline but in all this cold rusted steel ,broken diamond cutting wheels ,architectural stonemasonry there is beauty a physicaly imposing vision.

thoughts on the day

This is my first post, thank you to simon ,our simon the one and only as he set the whole blog up ,but with time it has been left in space till tonight.I often thought about what was worth writing,but i think its besy just to start stumpy fingers on qwerty. On friday we were working in the coombs valley,felling a couple of large firs amongst beautiful farm buildings stunning scenery and in the late afternoon a cold wind blowing across the valley. At the end of the day we set off across the valley myself on the back of a trailor attatched to a tractor,exciting and satisfying and a touch nostalgic,as years ago i worked on a farm hay bailing and running round after escaping randy bulls off for a serious redesvous.Any way there was the feeling that brings a smile and a inner moment of peace and harmony satisfied,tired smelling of smoke sweat ready and on the road to the beehive for a pint of the dark stuff .Simple ,remembering the joy and the feeling in your bones we are blessed.There is such beauty here we may look up or out and beyond ourselves there in the colour of a skyline ,in the leaves dancing upon the winds currents in calloused hands.a toast to the sentimental and the romantic and to honest work