Challenge

Cranford Community College already had an existing garden. “But maintenance was a problem, ” recalls Wendy Stokes, of Wendy Stokes Garden Design, who was tasked with the new design. Overgrown conifers made the garden seem dark and uninviting in gloomy weather; lawns and falling leaves meant maintenance was high. “My brief was to provide a low maintenance, reflective and restful space that was clean and contemporary. I chose resin bound paving because it is low maintenance, wheelchair friendly and it keeps looking good for years,” says Wendy .

Solution

The flexibility of resin bound paving lends itself to the creation of pattern and design to symbolise a theme. In this case, the college wished the garden to represent ‘The Circle of Life’ with water as a central theme. The inherent qualities of water are evoked through a circular flow of aquamarine glass and a reflective steel ball within a surround of warm Sienna resin bound paving.

Clearstone liaised with the college, garden designer and landscape contractor to ensure clear communication in bringing together all design elements for the garden. We created graceful curves with aluminium edging to form the ‘circle of life’ effect. In total an area 78 m2 was laid at a thickness of 18mm using Sienna and Blue Glass aggregate colours

Outcome

Assistant Head Teacher Alan Fraser said:“The Clearstone team were very quick laying the surface, worked long hours and bent over backwards to get it all finished for the opening ceremony. In addition, when we had a problem sourcing the bespoke benches we wanted, they even managed to find someone to provide them within the time frame.”