Inspired by their own balconies at home in King Cross, London, their unique ‘Junglette’ garden design aims to showcase the potential of compact outdoor spaces. 

 

Mike and Jewlsy are passionate about sustainability and urban greening, and have a strong vision to see balcony spaces across the UK and Ireland transformed into green havens. 

 

“There are thousands of empty balconies across the UK and Ireland, and we would love to see these getting filled in with greenery. We want to demonstrate what is possible with these spaces by showing that you can even have a mini jungle on a balcony or even a pond. We have a pond with fish on our own balcony,” says Mike.

 

Inspired by the couple's global jungle adventures and Jewlsy's ancestral home in Kerala, India, their balcony design creates a tranquil sanctuary with tropical planting and cascading flora. 

 

The garden even promotes biodiversity with bird nests, integrated bat boxes and a small pond. Sustainability is a key element in the design, with a folded back wall crafted from recycled paper and several other recycled materials. “We are making everything ourselves from the furniture to a bespoke bird feeder. The garden will be full of exotic species and is in part inspired by the jungle around Jewlsy's family ancestral home in India.” 

 

Mike’s journey began at Queen’s University: “I studied architecture at Queens from 2000-2003; three of the best years of my life. I thoroughly enjoyed studying there and it really set me up for a career in architecture.” 

 

After completing the remainder of his Architecture studies at The Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow, Mike moved to London where he runs his own business with Jewlsy: “We do architecture, interiors, furniture and now garden or landscape design. We don't like being bound by just working in architecture and love working across multiple design fields. We love testing ideas across these multiple fields whether it be designing a chair or working on a multi-storey building."

 

Notes to editors

Get in touch with Mike at www.mikemcmahonstudio.com

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