With far-reaching views across the Blackmore Vale, this small but quietly confident design brings elegance and energy to a small overlooked corner of a beautiful garden on the outskirts of Shaftesbury. It would have been easy to leave this space untouched, but instead it was approached with care, curiosity, and a sense of play.

Inspired by a bronze pheasant captured mid-flight, the design introduces movement through water and subtle curves, giving the sculpture both direction and purpose. The shallow reflecting pool sits directly in line with the full-height hallway window by the front door, creating an immediate visual connection on arrival. Ripples are echoed through a restrained palette of Welsh slate and halved red bricks, laid in gentle curves with pockets left open for planting and natural rewilding.

A six-metre corten steel pool by AP Steel, with planting channels for mosses and grasses, anchors the space. Its real beauty lies in patience - each year it softens, loosens, and edges closer to the wild landscape beyond.