Contemporary

Oxted Garden Design – A Contemporary Garden for a Modernist Home

This garden design project in Oxted, Surrey, surrounds a striking contemporary home built on the site of a former 1960s bungalow. While the house itself, designed by Dyer Grimes Architects, had already received significant architectural recognition, the garden remained unresolved.

The current owners purchased the property from its original creators and brought with them a deep love of plants and gardens, with a clear ambition to create a landscape that would soften, enrich, and properly ground the architecture within its setting.

Set within a leafy green belt location, the site offers far-reaching views to the Surrey Downs, alongside the challenges of a steeply sloping plot. The house, defined by its clean lines, extensive glazing, and refined palette of white render and hardwood cladding, presents a strong and confident presence within the landscape.

Our role at We Love Plants was to respond to this architecture with a garden that felt equally considered, but far more natural and immersive. The design is fundamentally plant-led, using a naturalistic mix of perennials and grasses to wrap the house in movement, texture, and seasonal change.

Broad, flowing planting areas were introduced to soften the edges of the building and create a sense of continuity between house and landscape. Rather than competing with the architecture, the planting acts as a unifying layer, allowing the building to settle into its surroundings while enhancing views from within.

Plant selection focused on resilience, biodiversity, and long-term performance, ensuring the garden would thrive in the open conditions with minimal intervention. The result is a landscape that evolves over time, becoming richer and more expressive with each season.

Sustainability underpins the scheme, complementing the house’s own environmental credentials, including solar hot water, an air source heat pump, and sustainable drainage, with a planting-led approach that improves soil health, increases water absorption, and supports wildlife.

The result is a confident and balanced composition, a garden shaped by a genuine passion for plants, bringing warmth, softness, and life to a highly architectural home.