Tucked behind residential apartments and busy streets in the heart of London, this pocket-sized Eden designed by Japanese garden designer Haruko Seki is not so much a garden, as a living haiku. Compact, poetic and impossibly serene, it shows how even a small, grey, one-dimensional space encased in lifeless concrete can be transformed into a refined and memorable garden.
In brief: a tiny city garden in London
- What Tiny Japanese-style courtyard, comprised of a series of strategically placed stepped planters. Won the Judges’ Prize at the 2025 Society of Garden and Landscape Designers Awards.
- Where London.
- Size Approximately 9m x 3m.
- Soil Slightly acidic to neutral.
- Aspect East-facing.
Nestled within an urban landscape of smart apartments and social housing, this 30-square-metre basement space is actually a lightwell that provides ventilation for a surrounding two-storey car park. Before the garden was created, the only signs of nature here were the east light drifting down from the sky above and some occasional rainwater that would run down the concrete slope of the car park into a gully.
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The owner had previously visited Kyoto and fell in love with how every outside space of a house, however small, was transformed into a magical mini landscape. Her study looks out onto this small, dark space, which was desperately in need of a face-lift and some tender loving care, so she decided to create her own Kyoto-style garden.
The design aims to capture the fleeting beauty of nature and the essence of life within
As the site forms part of the large communal car park for the building, existing structures including the concrete floor, a number of piers, walls and drains could not be touched or altered. The first thing that was needed was some kind of practical solution to screen the car park and the countless windows of the apartments beyond. “I knew exactly what to do when I first stepped onto the site,” explains Haruko.
“There were a lot of restraints and limits that helped to hone the design direction.” Her design involves 13 bespoke metal planters tightly knitted together, some carefully wrapping around the existing concrete pillars. The height of the first row of planters as seen from the study window was set level with the windowsill, bringing the planting surfaces close to the viewer.
Then, as the eye travels deeper into the garden, the planters step up about 35cm at a time. “Creating vertical terracing is the key to make the space look deeper than the actual size,” explains Haruko, who studied cognitive psychology, and brings that knowledge to her design work. By giving each planter a different height, it successfully adds depth and complexity to the space, both visually and psychologically.
No element of the hard landscaping was allowed to touch the walls of the property, so the three largest planters were installed on a carefully engineered metal framework, and stabilised by four metal beams that bridge across the garden and were fixed to the property’s masonry wall.
My goal is not simply to create a beautiful garden, but to create a place that quietly resonates with memory and daily life.
As the garden was designed to be viewed from only one direction, from the owner’s study, the designer was able to achieve this, but rather than waste the remaining space behind the raised planters, she decided to elevate it using a combination of frosted glass screens, plants and lights.
Haruko often uses this device, transforming natural elements such as wind and light into a tangible feature. The frosted glass screens are also a nod to shoji (traditional Japanese paper dividers), giving the sense that there is another room beyond, leaving the limit of the space to the viewer’s imagination.
The showstoppers in this garden are undoubtedly the three ‘floating’ planters with trees that provide innovative screening to more than 6m above ground level. Given that the brief for this space was to be for a Japanese garden, bamboo would have been the obvious option for a screen, but the owner is not overly keen on the plant.
Each planter adds depth and complexity to the space, both visually and psychologically
Haruko’s creativity was sparked by this challenge, and it led her into an area of brave but experimental design. All elements in the garden are removable, with the containers and metal frames sitting on heavy-duty castor wheels. This flexibility in design allows for easier access – all planters must be removed when scaffolding is up for periodic building maintenance – and leaves the existing drain system undisturbed.
Selecting plants for a small space is an elaborate and intricate decision-making process – and even more so for container planting, which can sometimes force designers to arrange plants like decorative flower arrangements rather than planting in an actual garden.
However, Haruko’s approach to planting design takes the mindset of ikebana, which, unlike Western flower arrangement, is viewed as a form of art capturing the fleeting beauty of nature and reflecting the essence of life within.
The main protagonists in Haruko’s planting composition are two Japanese maples, Acer palmatum and Acer palmatum Dissectum Viride Group, both chosen for their outstanding branch structure. The accompanying shrubs, such as Camellia hiemalis ‘Kanjirō’, Rhododendron japonicum ‘Rose King’, pieris and spiraea are positioned in the corners of the planters to blur the boundaries.*
Purple-leaved plants such as Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla ‘Eva’ and Heuchera ‘Pink Panther’ take an important role backstage, creating shadows and adding depth to the space. The green, moss-like Soleirolia soleirolii (mind-your-own-business) spreads in and around these key plants, joining forces with the stones and gravel covering the soil.
When adapting Japanese elements in the British context, I try not to impose tradition, but instead translate it through dialogue with the place.
None of the planters is overplanted. Haruko emphasises the importance of leaving a void in the space. “I aim to incorporate Japanese sensibilities such as ma, stillness and subtle transitions of light and sound,” she says. Her design approach does reflect her Japanese background and culture, but, she says, she is not trying to imitate stereotypical Japanese gardens.
“My goal is not simply to create a beautiful garden, but to create a place that quietly resonates with memory and daily life. When adapting Japanese elements in the British context, I try not to impose tradition, but instead translate it through dialogue with the place.”
The owner of the new garden couldn’t be happier, describing the views from the study windows as “wonderful pieces of art which change through the seasons – each season brings a new picture”.
Useful information
Find out more about Haruko Seki’s work at studiolasso.co.uk
Words: Tomoko Kawauchi
