A patio which combines comfort with modernity.

Alex, what did the land and spaces for the future patios look like before starting work?
From the first appointment with my clients, I realised that nothing had ever been built where the two patios were planned to be. Only hardcore had been laid and left after the house was renovated. 

What did your clients ask you for?
What the clients wanted above all was to make the entrance to their home stand out, although they did not have much of an idea of how to achieve that. What they knew is that they wanted it to blend in with the whole property. The house indeed has much character, combining the old (stone walls and red brick) and the modern (cladding). We had to think of a patio design that could match the style of the house.
Two areas were therefore left to us to design: the front patio of about 15m2, and the back patio of 80m2.

What were the main constraints?
Accessibility! The main requirement for the space in front of the house was to have as few steps as possible. The clients wish was to really make the house accessible to all from the entrance, with a stable and even path.
For the patio at the back of the house, the major constraint was water drainage, which tended to stagnate and pool during rainy days.

What technical solution did you provide the client with?
Given the style of the house and constraints, we suggested not one solution, but several products that blend well, both aesthetically and technically. Each has a characteristic of its own.
Thus, at the main entrance, we installed Couture Paving® blocks. Offering a smooth finish, the natural color paving blocks blend perfectly with the colour of the house. For the other patio located on the other side of the house, we chose to combine two materials: Boibé and Hydrostar®. The Boibé slabs, which are concrete-based materials, mimic wood without its disadvantages (not slippery, low maintenance, durable). The Hydrostar®, meanwhile, is the quintessential draining coating that meets the rainwater drainage requirement formulated by the client. Of course, a very slight slope was created to optimise the natural drainage of excess water.

Have you encountered difficulties in the realisation of this project?
The unfavorable weather (3 weeks of continuous rain) led us to advise postponing the project, which then lasted for two weeks as expected.
At the rear of the house, accessibility has been an issue, as the passage was narrow; we had to work with additional appropriate equipment and smaller machinery.
But looking back, the first difficulty was more to design the whole project from scratch. Like most people at first, our clients struggled to imagine the result of the build, what their patios would look like. Fortunately, with our digital tablet app, we were able to simulate a before / after scenario. They immediately saw what the space would look like, which comforted and reassured them in their choice.

Were your customers satisfied with the result? Does it meet their expectations?
Our clients were very satisfied with the end result that matches the image they have kept from the simulation made with the tablet. They also had positive feedback from their relatives and friends who complimented them on the visual and functional association of the materials used.