Poolside Landscaping Nice: Create Your Dream Pool Area

Studio Mathieu Besnier brings a refined, deeply personal approach to poolside landscaping and garden design across Nice and the French Riviera. Based in the hills above Grasse, we regularly work throughout the Alpes-Maritimes — from Antibes to Monaco, and of course Nice — delivering outdoor spaces that feel as considered as the architecture they surround. If you’re curious about who we are and what drives our work, our studio page tells the full story.

Mathieu founded the studio in 2015, after a decade spent in California studying Japanese garden art and aesthetic pruning techniques. That time shaped everything — an eye for restraint, a deep respect for materials that age beautifully, and a genuine understanding of how plants behave under intense summer heat. Working with the Mediterranean climate rather than against it became less a philosophy and more a reflex.

What sets us apart, honestly, is the combination of artistic sensibility and technical rigour. We don’t hand off a plan and disappear. From the first sketch to the final planting, we stay close to the project — coordinating with trusted local contractors, supervising on site, and making sure the result actually matches the vision. Poolside spaces, in particular, demand that level of attention: the interplay of stone, water, and plant texture around a pool leaves very little room for approximation.

Every project is supported by detailed technical studies and precise specifications — no vague estimates, no surprises on site. Our palette draws heavily on drought-resistant Mediterranean species, which thrive in the Nice microclimate and require far less maintenance than conventional planting schemes.

Nice and its surroundings have a particular character — the light, the stone, the way gardens tumble down hillsides toward the sea. We know this territory well, and that local knowledge shapes every design decision we make.

If you’re planning a poolside transformation in or around Nice, we’d genuinely love to hear about it. Reach out — let’s talk through what’s possible.