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Designing a building courtyard

Narrow, shaded, built over cellars or a car park: a building’s courtyard is a small shared garden. We design it to be beautiful, easy to live in and easy to maintain.

Florence Merrien, garden designer and creator in the landscape and a graduate of the École nationale supérieure de paysage, designs your project and supervises the works.

Talk about your project
FLAURE watercolour: a green building courtyard, with pots, shrubs and a vine trellis between the façades
Close-up of a climbing plant’s leaves and a curling tendril

Why green a building courtyard

Looking for a landscape architect for your building’s courtyard? We check the slab, the access and the utilities before drawing, then supervise the works.

  • A place to live for all the residents: seats, paths and planting turn a courtyard people only pass through into a shared green living room.

  • Cooler and greener, even in the shade: plants chosen for shade and half-shade, in open ground where possible, otherwise in lightweight planters on the slab.

  • A more permeable courtyard: removing hard surfaces, letting rain soak in and collecting it reduce runoff and heat islands.

  • Maintenance under control: a project designed to be maintained simply, by the company of your choice.

Are you on a building’s residents’ committee, or its managing agent? Discover how we work with co-owned buildings, with or without grants (CoprOasis in Paris).

We support you à la carte

An advice visit to begin with, then the package that suits you, at your own pace.

  1. To begin with

    Garden advice visit

    Always the first step: an appointment at your home to gauge your needs and choose the right package.

    €240 incl. VAT

    Deducted if you go on to another package.

    Request an advice visit

  2. Landscape sketch

    A site analysis and a watercolour sketch reveal the potential of the place.

  3. Landscape design

    Site plan, atmospheres, plant palette and budget estimate.

  4. Landscape design and creation

    From design to site supervision, with our partner companies.

  5. Aftercare

    Maintenance at a frequency that suits you, and a yearly follow-up visit.

Discover our methodology

Because we love
making your life easier

  • Over time, we have built up a network of quality partners to carry out your park, garden, terrace, patio and balcony projects.
  • We work hand in hand with these partners to offer you high-quality garden design projects.
  • We go further, introducing you to partners who can help finance your project.

The FLAURE spirit

A creative approach to designing bespoke gardens that sparkle, with careful finishes.

Discover the FLAURE spirit

What our clients say

Justine

The FLAURE agency created our garden last year. We are very pleased with the result and enjoy watching our garden grow. The agency was highly competent and always available, and met our needs and wishes while bringing fresh ideas. You can trust them! Thank you again.

Brigitte

I am very satisfied with the FLAURE agency’s work. (…) The proposal took into account the north, north-east and south-east exposures, to suggest suitable plants, as well as the constraints (co-ownership rules, a concrete slab, etc.). The idea of a journey through the garden that echoes our interior decoration is spot on. Finding landscapers and metalworkers for a flower dome let us save money by staying local, with adjusted quotes. Supervision of the works allowed the final corrections to be made and as much of the existing garden as possible to be saved. I can’t wait for spring to see it all in bloom!

Carine

I called on the FLAURE agency after buying a plot of land for our future house. We wanted to plan ahead and start creating a wooded area, with shade and fruit trees, a hedge to screen us from the street and space for a vegetable garden. The team took our needs into account and designed a project that suited us. Their drawings helped us picture the result. The works were well run and lived up to our expectations. In short, thank you FLAURE!

One of our projects

A 20 m² patio-terrace in Paris 17th: Like a glove.

Frequently asked questions

Who decides to redesign a building’s courtyard?

The co-owners, at their general meeting. The residents’ committee prepares the project, and the managing agent puts it on the agenda. We prepare the plans and the estimate for an informed vote.

Can you plant a courtyard without open ground?

Yes, in planters and window boxes set on the slab, with lightweight growing media. When the courtyard sits over cellars or a car park, we check the structure before choosing the plants.

How do you design a courtyard with narrow access?

A narrow porch or a passage under the building doesn’t stop the project. We plan deliveries and works with light machinery and elements that fit through the passage, in agreement with the managing agent.

Which plants suit a dark, windy courtyard?

In a deep courtyard, we choose a palette of half-shade and shade plants that stand up to the wind, so that the courtyard stays green and lively in every season.

How do you deal with rainwater and utilities in a courtyard?

We locate the manholes, pipes and drains to keep them accessible. We remove hard surfaces where possible, then let rainwater soak in or collect it for the plants.

How do you fit the courtyard around paths, bikes and bin stores?

The plan of the courtyard takes everyone’s uses into account: paths, bike parking, access to the bin stores. It is also designed for simple maintenance, suited to the building’s budget.

Who is it for?

A building courtyard is designed with those who decide on it, pay for it and look after it.

Shall we talk about your project?

We work in Paris, the Yvelines and the Hauts-de-Seine and, on request, anywhere in France and in neighbouring countries.

Contact us