The owners of this Georgian town house wanted a garden serving two quite distinct purposes - a stylish setting for entertaining, and an area for their two children to play.

The garden needed to complement both the old and the new - the Georgian house, older adjoining brick barn and flint garden walls; and the new zinc and glass extension and modern interior.

Christine Whatley's design alludes to past garden style with its neatly clipped buttress hedges dividing herbaceous planting, providing both height and a sense of discovery. A more modern twist on traditional yew or box hedging is provided by choosing beech, and the spaces are handled in a simple and contemporary manner.

Folding doors and a flush threshold give free access between the new extension and outside, so this provided the main entertaining space with informal seating provided by low retaining walls. The orientation of the site is such that this area is often in shade, so Christine incorporated a further terraced area at the North end of the garden, accessed across generous stepping stones over a large calming pool of water.

A sunken trampoline is set into a raised deck area, which leads via a ladder to a timber tree platform around the trunk. The whole area is designed to belong exclusively to the children, but where a watchful eye can be kept from the house.

Christine designed a stainless steel sculpture, based on Barbara Hepworth's "Cantate Domino", positioned to be seen both from inside the breakfast room and from across the pool.