Not every garden begins with an easy site. This one, tucked into a new-build estate in Jackton on the edge of East Kilbride, arrived as a sloping blank canvas with a stubborn 0.9m depression in one corner, the kind of plot most homeowners would flatten and forget about. Instead, the awkward levels became the point. What emerged is a layered composition of two connected outdoor rooms, held together by a brave, contrasting palette of Dutch brick, corten steel, thermally modified pine, and large-format terrazzo porcelain, softened by lush planting, and lifted at dusk by a lighting scheme that reveals a whole different face of the garden after sunset.

We successfully designed this project by:

• Working with the existing land shape rather than against it, turning the awkward 0.9m depression in the north-east corner into the defining feature of the scheme.
   
• Positioning a generous main patio directly at the kitchen door, sized for larger social gatherings and connecting seamlessly to the interior.
   
• Retaining the lower depression with a series of terraced walls to create a cosy sunken lounge at the far end of the garden.
   
• Enclosing the sunken lounge with a rich mix of textures, including brick, corten steel details, planting, and thermally modified pine screening panels, to give the space real intimacy and character.
   
• Connecting the upper and lower levels through a considered sequence of steps and retaining structures faced in Dutch brick.
   
• Framing the main patio with a dog-friendly lawn on the flatter western portion, offering an open counterpoint to the more architectural entertaining areas.
   
• Surfacing both patios in large-format terrazzo porcelain slabs, picking up on the warm tones of the masonry whilst introducing a distinctly modern edge.
   
• Upgrading the side gardens with new paving, dedicated shed provision on the eastern side, and visual improvements to the western bin area.
   
• Installing a comprehensive drainage system beneath the whole scheme to keep the garden resilient against heavy Scottish rain.
   
• Introducing a considered outdoor lighting scheme to bring an atmospheric, lounge character to the space in the evenings, picking out the most important structural moments across the composition.
   
• Filling the garden with lush planting to soften the built elements and bring seasonal life to the composition.