Feature Garden Wall, Dalton

A raised bed in the middle of a driveway, rendered to finish it off.

The bed itself was already built when we came — blockwork curve, a soldier course of dark bricks laid round the top, and the planting in. What it wanted was the face of it finishing.

It was done in a white through render, K-Rend. Through render, or monocouche, means the colour goes all the way through the material rather than being painted on afterwards. There is no paint film on it to flake or fade, and nothing to repaint in five years. K-Rend renders are silicone based, which suits the monocouche process well: you get a long lasting, waterproof, breathable and virtually maintenance free finish on a wall.

The render was taken right round the sweep and down to the brick paviour band at the foot, and stopped cleanly under the coping so the dark course above still reads as brick. Nothing decorative about it, which is the point — everything else in that bed is doing the decorating, and the render is what makes it look deliberate rather than unfinished.

It is outside, it is exposed, and it has soil sitting behind it, so it needed a render that would take that and keep taking it. Monocouche is also a cost effective alternative to a conventional sand and cement render: faster to apply, and less to spend on it afterwards.