CED Stone Group Supports All Three RHS Young Designer Finalists at Tatton Park
Post date: 18 Jul, 2017
Take one of the coolest new concepts in workspace design, give it to the freshest young talents in the garden industry and what do you end up with? Three ingenious and cutting-edge outdoor office gardens that will without doubt inspire businesses to make better use of their external spaces.
Supporting a more open and relaxed business culture and providing employees with a natural alternative to the standard stuffy offices, outdoor workspaces restore mental attentiveness and encourage motivation and productivity. Nothing gets that report finished like a clear mind in a beautiful natural space!
As part of the RHS Young Designers 2017 competition, which has become a stepping stone for many new talents, finalists have each been given their own show garden at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show. Anca Panait (27), Jake Curley (25) and Ula Maria Bujauskaite (24) have been tasked with creating their own garden office space. Only one will be crowned winner of this prestigious and respected competition!
The designers have included natural stone materials as an intrinsic part of their schemes and CED are very proud to be donating our products to all three finalist gardens – it’s a delight to work with such innovative budding designers and we’re keen to support any project that not only encourages but gives recognition to the next generation of horticultural stars.
Studio Unwired: - Ula Maria Bujauskaite
A hot-desk office designed for an urban surrounding, Studio Unwired has a contemporary with a rustic elegance. Defined working zones include desks and a relaxed seating area amongst gnarled pine trees which offer a visually distinctive canopy. A pergola is divided into three different sections - open, semi-sheltered and enclosed, allowing different levels of exposure to the elements.
The garden takes its inspiration from maritime dunes and coastal hinterlands, and is inspired by the designer’s childhood memories of Baltic landscapes with a controlled palette of flowers and grasses that are a stark contrast to the urban office environment. She used Scottish Beach Cobbles sized 75 - 50mm to line the water feature and also smaller Scottish Beach Pebbles in a mix of graduated sizes to scatter around the garden, all donated by CED. Ula came to the depot to hand-pick the pieces for her garden herself:
“I felt like the natural stone boulders have been an important part of the garden supporting its naturalistic nature. I have chosen specific boulders in the depot individually that would complement the colour and texture palette of the garden. The Scottish beach pebbles are a perfect addition for coastal theme garden and I loved the colours that they turnwhen immersed in the water.”
Business & Pleasure: - Jake Curley
A multi-functional space with three different seating areas, including a covered home office set up with a desk and computer, a long meeting table for group work and discussions, and a small bench at the end of a gravel path for quiet reading or phone calls.
The garden is inspired by the High-line and Piet Oudolf’s use of grasses, as well as New York rooftop gardens where the more naturalistic planting provides an escape from the busy city life. Jake uses a Prairie-style planting scheme with various grasses that intermix with the bold colour of the perennial drifts. A water trough sitting in the middle of the garden provides contrast and simplicity to the planting around.
Gabbro boulders are set amongst the planting and 10 – 20mm Grey Limestone Aggregate is used for the paths. Contrasting with the orange-rust colour of the rectangular trough, Jake has submerged Flat Beige Pebbles just under the clear water to make the water feature really stand out.
Prospect & Refuge: – Anca Panait
The garden’s design focuses on the environmental requirements of an outdoor working space. Within the garden there are key focal elements that entice and invite the visitors to discover the space step by step. It is designed as a multifunctional outdoor room, with a sunken central area surrounded by lush and calming perennials to encourage a dialogue between nature and people.
The garden offers observation and views, while providing protection, privacy and warmth. The woodland planting creates a sense of enclosure and escape from the outside world with planting height variations acting as a buffer from city noise. Timber furniture defines the central space: working desks, two-tier seating and anti-slip decking, which combine to create a warm, natural ambiance and an aesthetically attractive space.
Wanting to continue with the white shades featured in her planting scheme, Anca used 10 – 14mm crushed White Marble Aggregate and 40 - 20mm Tumbled White Marble Cobbles to lay on the footpaths, which she wanted to include as alternative pathways leading to and from the garden through the flowers. Using her creativity, she kept the smaller aggregate in the middle of the path and the larger aggregate around the edges, playing with texture and contrasts.
The fantastic office gardens can be seen at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show which runs from 19th - 23rd July 2017.