Hampstead, London NW3
Porcelain Terrace & Outdoor Kitchen
Terrace, outdoor kitchen & planters
The project
A porcelain paved terrace with a built-in outdoor kitchen and rendered planters, sized around the family's table so the circulation still works when it is fully laid.
The effort behind it
Services for the kitchen — water, waste, gas and power — were all run before paving, which meant fixing the layout at the design stage with no room for later changes. Porcelain of 20mm was fixed on a full mortar bed with slurry primer, one slab at a time, because spot-bedding is the usual cause of the hollow slabs we get called out to replace.
Challenges faced
Ground conditions at Hampstead, London NW3 set the terms for everything on Porcelain Terrace & Outdoor Kitchen. Levels had to be remodelled, drainage designed in rather than added on, and heavy materials moved through restricted access without disturbing the parts of the garden that were staying. Weather windows governed the finishing trades, and the schedule was rebuilt week by week around them.
Team & involvement
A core landscaping crew stayed with the project from first excavation to the final sweep, supported by our in-house stone masons, electricians and planting specialists. Because the same team set out, built and finished the work, the detailing stayed consistent across every square metre — and the client dealt with one foreman and one phone number throughout.
A successful outcome
One season after completion, the garden at Porcelain Terrace & Outdoor Kitchen has settled exactly as designed: drainage performing through the wettest months, paving uncracked and planting establishing ahead of schedule. The client's own verdict, at the twelve-month aftercare visit, was that it looks as though it has always been there — the highest compliment a landscape can earn.
