Our Team
Our small team is based in a West London studio but we work on garden and landscape design projects the rest of the UK and overseas as well as in London. We come from a range of backgrounds including landscape design and architecture, architecture, garden design, horticulture and project management.
The team is led by design director Tomoko Kawauchi and founder Charlotte Rowe.
Kawauchi Rowe Garden Design has recently won Garden of the Year in the UK’s prestigious Society of Garden and Landscape Designers 2026 Awards. It was the overall winner across all 12 categories.
Tomoko Kawauchi MSGLD
Tomoko Kawauchi MSGLD is an award-winning garden and landscape designer and Design Director of Kawauchi Rowe Garden and Landscape Design. In 2026, her design for a family garden in Putney received the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers’ prestigious Garden of the Year award, as well as awards for Small Residential Landscapes & Gardens and Built Landscape Design.
Now leading the practice alongside founder Charlotte Rowe, Tomoko is known for creating gardens that are both highly considered and deeply connected to the people who own them and places they serve. Her design approach combines strong architectural structure with generous, immersive planting, creating spaces that feel elegant, contemporary and timeless while responding sensitively to their setting.
With a background in architecture and horticulture, Tomoko brings a distinctive combination of architectural clarity, meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of planting and the natural world to her work. She gained a degree in architecture in Japan before moving to the UK, where she studied horticulture and began her career in garden design.
Tomoko first joined Charlotte Rowe Garden Design in 2006, working closely with Charlotte Rowe on a wide range of residential gardens and landscapes in London, across the UK and overseas. Over the course of her career, she has contributed to the design and delivery of more than 300 gardens and landscapes, encompassing intimate urban courtyards, substantial private gardens, rural landscapes and public spaces.
Tomoko is a fully accredited member of the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers (MSGLD) and brings an international perspective to the practice, drawing on her Japanese architectural background alongside her extensive experience of designing gardens in the UK and overseas.
Charlotte Rowe FSGLD
Charlotte Rowe established the studio in West London in 2004 and since then has designed more than 300 gardens, terraces and landscapes in London, the UK and overseas. Originally an art historian, she worked for many years in marketing and communications before gaining a post-graduate diploma in Residential Landscape and Garden Architecture.
Her earlier career in professional consultancy gives her an understanding of the importance of working closely with clients and has helped her to establish a professional approach to garden design consultancy.
Charlotte won a Gold medal at the 2014 RHS Chelsea Flower Show for her show garden, ‘No Man’s Land’, which marked the centenary of the outbreak of World War One. She has also won a number of industry awards.
Charlotte regularly speaks on landscape design around the world. Charlotte Rowe is a fully accredited member of the Society of Garden + Landscape Designers and Kawauchi Rowe Garden Design is an SGLD practice member.
