Garden Rooms and Landscape Design In Christchurch

Studio Arkell is delighted to be able to extend its design offering into your outside spaces to include garden rooms and landscape design in Christchurch and the surrounding areas.

Connecting your living space with the surrounding land is a continuation of design that completes a build of any kind. Creating an indoor/outdoor connection is great for extending usable space as well as enhancing general well-being.

We can help design your outside space to create social areas, outdoor kitchens, garden rooms and beautiful hard landscaping with accompanying and softening planting schemes, pergolas, pools or patios.

Speak to our friendly team to learn more about our garden room designs or landscaping services by calling 01202 232423.

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Outdoor Social Areas

There are many elements to creating a comfortable outdoor social area for you and your guests. Using an experienced architect for landscaping designs of social areas offers considered design and expertise so that your space can blend the style and feel of your home and garden seamlessly creating a relaxing space for social gatherings.

Our team will collaborate with you through the initial consultation and regular updates to produce tailored designs that capture your vision and help you achieve your goals.

Using our 3D modelling and visualising tools, we will generate in-depth and detailed plans for you to approve.

Key Features of Outdoor Social Design

When designing your outdoor social area, we will consider several key elements. These will include:

  • Seating and their arrangement - we will discuss the type of seating you would like and how you might like them positioned.

  • Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces - keeping warm as the evenings cool helps create a comfortable and cosy atmosphere. We will consider their place within your social area.

  • Dining areas - if you are planning to host dinner parties in the area, we will include dining tables and catering equipment in our designs.

  • Shade structures - offering shade makes spaces more comfortable, so, we will look at the different shading options available for your space.

  • Lighting - lighting options will encourage the use of the space as the sun sets, but you want light to match the ambience created by the rest of the design, so, we will detail lighting options.

Our comprehensive design services will ensure that each of these elements is thoughtfully integrated to create a social space that reflects your desires and uses.

Call us on 01202 232423 to learn more about our outdoor social area landscape designs in Christchurch.

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Outdoor Kitchens

Outdoor kitchens are gaining popularity as people seek to install more permanent cooking facilities in their gardens to enhance their outdoor hosting.

With the complications of needing to survive the British weather, designing an outdoor kitchen requires a different set of knowledge and skills than an internal kitchen.

Key Features We Include

In our designs, we will cover the following:

  • Appliances - what will you be cooking, and what appliances will you need?

  • Preparation and storage areas - as with an indoor kitchen, you will want plenty of counter space, so we will ensure this is considered in our designs.

  • Sinks and plumbing - will you want to clean up outside, or will you take it indoors to wash?

    Refrigeration and beverage solutions - will you want to keep drinks and food cool while using the space? If so, we will look at the practicalities of integrating a fridge into your outdoor kitchen.

You will be part of the designs at every stage as we get a thorough understanding of what you are looking to achieve in our initial consultation. From there, we will start working on design ideas, sending each stage to you for feedback so that together, we produce a design that captures everything you are looking for.

Speak to us to learn more about our outdoor kitchen designs and processes by calling us on 01202 232423.

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Garden Rooms

Garden rooms enable you to expand indoor space while blending the outdoors with the outside.

There are many uses for a garden room, from a home office or gym to an additional living space for a family member or to rent out as an Air BnB.

Each use will require specific elements, which is why using an architect to design the space can be important.

Features of Garden Room Design We Will Consider

  • Shape and size of the space - we will work with you to determine the optimal shape and size of your garden room so that it is big enough for your use without overtaking the rest of your garden.

  • Doors and windows - natural light will make a difference to the space, but the different uses will work better with different types of doors. If blending outside with inside, then large bi-fold doors should be considered, but if using it as an office space, perhaps more windows and a simple door would work better. We will specify doors and windows in our designs to match the purpose of the room.

  • Facilities in the room - what purpose will the room serve, and what facilities need to be included for it to function? We will determine these with you, and our designs will seamlessly incorporate each element.

  • Outdoor landscaping - the exterior of your garden room should be just as well presented as the inside, which is why we will also design the landscape around the room to ensure continual perfection.

Our garden room design process will start with an initial consultation where we will discuss why you would like a garden room and how you will use it. This will dictate some of our design elements.

With an understanding of what you are looking for, we will use our 3D modelling and visualisation tools to design and detail our ideas. At each stage, we will send them to you for feedback, working towards a final design that accomplishes what you are looking for.

Discover more about our garden room designs by calling us on 01202 232423.

Landscape Design

Landscape design is much more than social areas, outdoor kitchens and garden rooms, so our landscape design services in Christchurch are not limited to these.

Our team has experience in working with clients to create beautiful gardens with various hard landscaping and soft landscaping features.

Whether you are looking for help creating the optimal layout for your plant beds or want to add pathways, walls or other hard landscaping features, we can work with you to produce designs that reflect your desired usage.

Key Elements Of Our Landscape Design Service

  • Plant selection and placement - with an understanding of the shape, size and orientation of your garden, we will help you select plants and place them in various plant beds and locations.

  • Hardscaping - we can include patios, pathways, retaining walls and water features to enhance the functionality and beauty of your garden.

  • Lighting - lighting will impact the feel of your garden, so we will consider the type and placement of lighting to complement the rest of the landscape design and atmosphere created.

  • Water management - we will also work with you to ensure your garden and the landscape design include effective water management systems so you don't experience flooding or other problems.

An initial meeting will set the scope of our work with you so that we understand what is expected of our landscape design service. From there, we will conceptualise ideas and generate designs on our 3D modelling and visualisation technology. Each design stage will be sent to you for your feedback so that we produce designs that reflect your aims and visions for the space.

Discuss your landscaping project with us today by calling 01202 232423.

01202 232423

5 Castle St, Christchurch,
Dorset, BH23 1DP

info@studioarkell.com

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Interior Design

We can also assist with interiors specifications — for example, kitchen layouts, bespoke joinery, finishes, and fittings.

We can prepare a tailored quote based on the level of detail and input you’d like from us. The more information we specify upfront together, the smoother the build process will be, and the more accurate your contractor’s costings will be, helping to avoid unexpected costs.

This scope would be agreed under a fixed fee.

Pre Application

If the proposed scheme is particularly large, complex, or potentially contentious, we may recommend submitting a pre-application enquiry to the local planning authority before proceeding with a full planning application. This can help clarify requirements, identify potential issues early, and improve the chances of a successful outcome.

This scope would be agreed under a fixed fee.

BREGs

After planning approval, the final stage is Technical Design, where we create detailed Building Regulation Drawings (BREGs).

A few important notes:

  • You’ll need Building Control sign-off for the build. This can be done through the local authority or privately, with fees paid directly to Building Control.

  • We can introduce you to trusted local structural engineers, or we’re happy to collaborate with any chartered engineer of your choice. Their fees are separate and payable directly to them.

  • We can also introduce you to reputable builders we regularly work with, if needed.

Our fees are split into two payments: 50% upon instruction and 50% upon issue of the drawings to Building Control.

Planning

Once you’re happy with the proposed design, we’ll prepare your planning application pack.

A typical planning submission includes:

  • Location & Block Plan

  • Existing Plans & Elevations

  • Proposed Plans & Elevations (including coloured elevations)

  • Proposed Site Plan

  • Design & Access Statement

We’ll handle the submission on your behalf and liaise with the council throughout, keeping you updated every step of the way.

Our fees are split into two payments: 50% upon instruction and 50% upon submission of the application.

Concept

This is the exciting part — shaping a design that’s perfectly suited to you.

After our initial consultation, we’ve prepared a brief and a list of drawing deliverables. Here’s how this stage works: We start with a site survey to produce accurate existing plans and elevations. We then develop proposed design drawings based on the agreed brief. Once ready, we’ll invite you to our office for a design review. We’ll refine the design based on your feedback and issue a final drawing pack for you to sign off. Our fees are split into two payments: 50% upon instruction and 50% upon issue of the drawings.