The Mews
Cork City, Co. Cork
A dark city courtyard between three walls, rebuilt around light, water and one very good tree.
- Garden size
- 75 m²
- Project type
- Contemporary
- Investment
- €28,000 – €32,000
- Programme
- 5 weeks
The brief
North-facing, overlooked on two sides, and in shade for most of the day. The owners wanted somewhere to sit that did not feel like the bottom of a well.
What we did
Small dark spaces get worse when you fill them. We took things out: the raised beds around the perimeter went, the boundary walls were lime-washed to bounce what light there was, and the floor became a single pale porcelain that reads as one plane from the kitchen.
A multi-stem Amelanchier sits slightly off-centre, chosen because it is light in leaf and gives three seasons of interest in a space where every plant has to earn its place.
A wall-mounted water blade covers the traffic noise from the road behind, which was the complaint the owners had not thought to mention until we sat in the space with them.
Outcome
A courtyard that is used year-round, and measurably brighter — the lime-washed walls and pale floor lift the space enough that it no longer needs lights on in the afternoon.
The layout, before and after
The site survey and the finished design, drawn to the same scale on the same boundaries.
