Swimming Pool Wellness Garden The Poolside Garden

The Challenge

The brief required far more than a pool terrace. The garden needed to operate as a complete domestic landscape, balancing swimming, outdoor cooking, dining, wellness, privacy, arrival, side access, planting and practical everyday use.

One of the central challenges was to organise these different functions without allowing the garden to feel fragmented. The swimming pool, sauna, changing room, outdoor shower, outdoor kitchen, dining zone, lawn, raised beds, water feature and entrance all needed their own purpose, while still reading as part of one composed design.

The site also needed careful handling of privacy and sound. The entrance into the property formed part of the wider design consideration, alongside boundary treatment, screening, planting and the way the garden would be experienced from both inside and outside the house. The water feature was introduced not only as an aesthetic focal point, but as a practical way to help drown out road noise and strengthen the wellness ambience of the space.

The relationship between levels, materials and movement was equally important. Steps, terrace edges, porcelain treads, limestone cobble paving, brick detailing, retaining elements, lawn edges and planted transitions all had to be resolved so that the garden felt intuitive to move through and calm to spend time in.

Our Solution

The solution was to create a layered swimming pool and wellness garden with distinct outdoor zones held together by a restrained material palette and a clear spatial rhythm.

The main poolside area was designed as the social heart of the garden. The Roman-end pool gives the space a more elegant and architectural character, while limestone cobble paving brings texture, warmth and detail to the terrace. A formal dining zone sits within the wider poolside entertaining space, supported by a full outdoor kitchen and softened by surrounding planting. Rather than relying on built enclosure alone, planting creates natural walls and a more relaxed sense of privacy around the dining and entertaining areas.

The wellness elements were integrated into the pool surround rather than treated as separate additions. A four-person sauna and changing room unit provide a dedicated retreat beside the pool, while the outdoor shower is hidden behind a screen for privacy and ease of use. These features give the garden a stronger wellness identity, supporting the way the space is used before and after swimming, sauna sessions and outdoor entertaining.

In the second garden zone, porcelain tread paving steps guide movement through the space, while the water feature adds both atmosphere and practical acoustic value. Its sound helps soften the presence of the nearby road, creating a calmer garden experience and reinforcing the restorative quality of the design.

Across the whole garden, planting plays a central role. It softens the hard landscape, frames the main spaces, supports privacy, and helps connect the pool, dining, kitchen, sauna and water feature into one planted, liveable landscape.