Opposites attract – garden in Baldham
Summery, friendly and lively – a contrast to the austere dark clinker façade.
| Location | Baldham |
| Size | 800 m² |
| Design | Jan Vandebotermet |
| Implementation | Fuchs baut Gärten GmbH – Gärtner von Eden |
| Photography | Klas Stöver (first series) · Benjamin Klopp (2024) |
| Award | “Gärten des Jahres” 2021 (Callwey) – nominated and published in the book · Callwey yearbook “Landschaftsarchitektur 2025” – featured in the book, page 154 · View the project in the competition |
“The old trees in the neighbouring gardens were included in the design – which makes the garden feel more spacious.”
The garden has two sides: formal around the terrace and pool, and more natural, drawing in the old birches and pines on the neighbouring plots. The terrace of fired clinker carries the façade out into the garden, while pale travertine frames the sunken pool area. Flowering perennial beds, old fruit trees, Annabelle hydrangeas and a sweetgum in the house's light well provide the accents.
The pool was already there. The classic chlorinated pool was already in place when we joined the project – someone else built it. Our task was everything around it: design, construction and, for years now, maintenance. Why this is a craft in its own right is explained under Chlorinated swimming pool.
The sweetgum in the light well
At the centre of the house is a light well: open at the top, glazed on two sides, surrounded by dark clinker. In it stands a sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua). So from the hallway you don't look out at the garden, but into a tree crown – red and violet in October, bare branches in winter.
We look after this tree. It is also the reason we like to be involved from the very start with courtyards like this: root space, water, light and the question of how to reach it later with a ladder are all decided during the shell construction – not at the nursery. What needs to be settled is explained under A tree in the house.
There are two photo series of this garden. The first is by Klas Stöver and appeared in the Callwey book “Gärten des Jahres 2021”. In 2024 Benjamin Klopp photographed the garden again – these pictures appear in the Callwey yearbook Landschaftsarchitektur – Herausragende Projekte 2025 by Tilman Latz and Laura Puttkamer, on page 154. Both series can be seen in the gallery below; the second is the calmer one.
Photos: Klas Stöver (first series) · Benjamin Klopp (2024) · “Gärten des Jahres” 2021 (Callwey) – nominated and published in the book · Callwey yearbook “Landschaftsarchitektur 2025” – featured in the book, page 154
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