The challenge with this Manchester garden was the change in levels. The before-and-after photograph shows just how dramatic this was.

This couple, with a young family, needed to link the house and upper terrace to the large garden, with its lawn and children's play area, in a stylish way. The scheme had to be contemporary, using decking, rendered walls and sleek natural sandstone paving.

The idea of a circular deck evolved fairly quickly in the design process. The clients had seen one of our earlier examples, and this dictated the use of a curved, almost Art Deco, rendered wall.

The deck extended through four steps, while still respecting its tapered appearance. Each of the 250 pieces of yellow balau hardwood had to be individually machined — phew! The result was worth it, producing a fully integrated design in which everything hangs together.

The planting was minimal: just a few topiary forms using dwarf olive trees and drifts of black-stemmed bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra) against the new, stylish, horizontally slatted fence.

Lighting was important, as it always is when rendered walls are used. A series of LED deck lights was installed around the circumference of the deck, with LED uplighters wherever the planting needed to be highlighted.