Contemporary Country Garden Cottered Barn

Every project begins with the site itself. For this country garden in Cottered, Hertfordshire, the character of the existing converted barn and its surrounding rural context shaped each design decision. The 3,500 sq ft space presented both constraint and opportunity. The barn is rich with character and history, yet its conversion is crisp, contemporary, and highly architectural, and the garden needed to hold that same tension between heritage and modernity.

Materiality sits at the centre of our approach. In Cottered Barn, herringbone paving and clean stone terraces provide a contemporary framework, while swathes of ornamental grasses and mass planting in confident single-species drifts soften the edges and dissolve the garden into the surrounding countryside. Every surface, edge, and planting composition has been considered as part of a single cohesive language, one that reads as modern and intentional up close yet sits naturally within the wider rural landscape.

Our process is collaborative from the first conversation through to the final planting. We work closely with each client to understand how they want to live in their garden, and we refine every detail until the design feels inevitable. If you are considering a garden project in Cottered or the surrounding area, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can help.