PO14 · Solent coast

Hill Head. Facing the Solent.

Coastal exposure, salt in the air, gardens that need to handle both. Material specification matters here — vitrified porcelain over softer stone where the salt cycle works.

Gardens here

Coastal village with sea views, mix of older bungalows and newer rebuilds replacing them. Salt-air exposure is significant — anything iron-bearing rusts, anything porous absorbs, anything south-facing weathers fast.

Plot sizes vary; the older Hill Head bungalows often sit on generous plots that have been worked over decades. Newer rebuilds typically have smaller, more architectural gardens.

Working the area

Fifteen to twenty minutes from the studio. We're familiar with the coastal conditions — Warsash itself runs onto the Solent, so the same specification considerations apply at home.

Material decisions

Vitrified porcelain rather than softer sandstone on south-facing aspects. Marine-grade stainless fixings throughout, no plain-steel hardware. Salt-tolerant planting palettes — Eryngium, Crambe, Stipa, Echium, Crocosmia, lavender, rosemary. Hardwoods (oak, iroko) over softwoods on directly-exposed aspects.

From the studio 15-20 min
Postcode area PO14 3
Studio coverage Regular

In practice

The studio archive doesn't yet feature a Hill Head project. Garden composition, Warsash 2025 — also coastal-adjacent, also using porcelain where the conditions called for it — is the closest reference build.

Discuss a Hill Head brief

Tell us about the garden.

A short conversation, a site visit, and a written brief before any work is committed. We work across Hampshire — Warsash, Fareham, Southampton, Portsmouth and the towns in between.