Introducing Kawauchi Rowe: A New Chapter for an Award-Winning Garden Design Practice
Today marks an exciting new chapter for our studio.
Following more than 20 years of designing award-winning gardens and landscapes, Charlotte Rowe Garden Design is evolving under the new leadership of Tomoko Kawauchi, who is now at the helm of the studio that she has helped shape for almost two decades.
To mark this new chapter, the practice is changing its name to Kawauchi Rowe Garden and Landscape Design which recognises the long-standing creative partnership between Charlotte Rowe and Tomoko Kawauchi which has been at the heart of the success of the studio. It also marks the beginning of a new era with Tomoko leading the team, developing a new creative vision for the future and a renewed perspective on how gardens and landscapes can be designed for the way we live now and in the future.
This development comes in a significant year. Early in 2026, a garden in Putney designed by Tomoko won ‘Garden of the Year’ in the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers (SGLD) Awards across 17 design categories, along with awards for Best Small Residential Garden and for Best Built Landscape Design. This is the top industry award judged by the studio’s garden designer peers who described it as an ‘absolute masterpiece’.
As founder, Charlotte Rowe remains an important part of the leadership of the practice as a close partner and collaborator to Tomoko and the team. The transition represents a natural progression for the studio that Charlotte established in 2004 and that she and Tomoko have developed together over many years, establishing a distinctive design language that has become the hallmark of the practice.
The pair have together designed over 300 gardens over the last 20 years as well as winning a coveted Gold Medal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show for ‘No Man’s Land’ a main avenue show garden that marked the centenary of the outbreak of World War I.
As Tomoko takes the practice forward, Kawauchi Rowe will continue to build on its established strengths while exploring new creative directions: combining strong architectural structure, generous planting and meticulous craftsmanship to create gardens that are purposeful, immersive and deeply connected to their setting.
The first project to be unveiled under the new Kawauchi Rowe name was an award-winning stand for furniture company Nth Degree at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show – an exciting first step into this new chapter.