A Small London Yard With Rich Rust Accents

Corten steel panels and complementary plantings beautify this courtyard day and night

Sarah Warwick July 3, 2019

Houzz Contributor. I'm a freelance journalist and editor writing for nationals, magazines and websites. A serial house revamper, I love great design, beautiful interiors and practical solutions.

Houzz Contributor. I'm a freelance journalist and editor writing for nationals, magazines... More

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This London yard had to pack a lot into a small footprint. It needed to be an outdoor living space and, since it’s in front of a refurbished carriage house, it needed to make an impression as an entrance too. It also had to accommodate the car and trash bins. Landscape designer Georgia Lindsay was on the case to create a multipurpose marvel.

Georgia Lindsay Garden Design

Photos by Nathalie Priem and Georgia Lindsay

Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A professional couple
Location: Camden area of London
Size: 452 square feet (42 square meters)
Designer: Georgia Lindsay of Georgia Lindsay Garden Design

The yard is a narrow rectangle across the front of the house. From the street, a roller shutter opens to give access to a parking space on the right. On the left is the seating area.

“The owners were keen to make the whole rectangle usable when the car isn’t there,” Lindsay says. “The parking space had to look like a garden.”

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Before Photo

Georgia Lindsay Garden Design

Before: The division between the parking space and the rest of the landscape limited the yard’s potential, and the sparse planting wasn’t thriving. “It was like being at the side of a car park,” Lindsay says.

Contemporary Landscape Contemporary Garden

The professional couple needed their exterior space to be a low-maintenance outdoor room. Since they were planning a family when they began the project, safety, comfort and accessibility also were high on their agenda.

Lindsay used built-in seating. “In a small garden, it’s always going to be a good use of space,” she says. Pillows add comfort.

A raised concrete bed created a framework for the bench, and there’s planting behind. “It’s a dark corner, so there are lots of ferns and plants that can do well in the shade,” Lindsay says. They include Dryopteris and grassy Carex.

Behind them are Corten steel panels that were custom-designed for the yard.

Lindsay chose exterior porcelain underfoot because it’s durable, low-maintenance and nonporous. It was a way of future-proofing the space destined to be used by a family. “When you have kids — and spillages are likely — porcelain is a great option,” she says.

The paving is in two colors to create a striped design that reflects the linear larch siding on the house.

Plants: Provender Nurseries; porcelain paving in Slab Coke and Silver Grey: London Stone

Georgia Lindsay Garden Design

Taken while the planting was in progress, this photo shows the design of the paving. The dark stripes align with the tire tracks of the car to avoid marks, with the lighter gray in between.

The roller shutter is finished in the same gray as the planters for a smart effect.

A magnolia tree grows up through the bench. “There was another tree in that position that had been given a tree preservation order and, as part of the planning consent, we had to replace it,” Lindsay says.

As the magnolia matures, it will form a canopy that will provide more privacy from neighboring properties, as well as refreshing shade. In the small yard, having it grow through the bench maximizes the use of the space and makes it a feature.

The Corten steel panels behind the tree are laser-cut in a design that echoes the magnolia’s leaf shape and the outline of the pebbles at its base.

Cor-Ten Steel Brings Enduring Texture to Landscapes

The panels are backlit. “It’s just brick wall behind, but it opens up the space at night, and in daylight there’s a strong contrast with the shadows behind, so you don’t feel so hemmed in,” Lindsay says.

The bifold doors of the house open directly to the seating area, which is atmospheric after dark. “Pools of light fall onto the bench and paving. It’s like dappled tree light making patterns on the ground. It’s really magical,” Lindsay says.

Amazingly, this area also houses the trash bins. Lindsay allowed just their width behind the slim steel panels to keep them from protruding into the garden. The planter alongside is on casters, allowing it to be pulled out of the way to access the bins.

The planters align with the width of the paving and the bench. Made of fiberglass, they have a powder-coated gray finish that complements the paving and the gray paint on the house, as well as the bifold door frames.

Planters: Cedar Nursery

The Corten steel brings warm color to the space. “The screen, the magnolia and the planting are the focal points,” Lindsay says.

Georgia Lindsay Garden Design

Here are the panels right after installation, when they were just beginning to rust. They take about two months to develop their beautiful orange patina.

Georgia Lindsay Garden Design

The plant selections include those with foliage that complements the steel panels. “I wanted to echo the rust and bronze tones within the planting,” Lindsay says.

9 Ways to Use Bronze Foliage in Your Garden

Georgia Lindsay Garden Design

The planting plan features plenty of low-maintenance evergreens.

Lindsay also kept the color palette simple and the selection limited. “With a small space, you don’t want to add too many varieties of plants,” she says.

Georgia Lindsay Garden Design

Lindsay included Euphorbia, which has leaves with reddish tones and orange flowers in summer, and Coprosma, which has rust-colored foliage, as part of the planting.

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