From 2003 to 2006, PLANT transformed an under-used and much neglected part of Gairloch Gardens into a site for observation and contemplation. A collaborative architecture, landscape and design team from Toronto, PLANT's work explores ways to create lively dialogue between viewer, built form and landscape using a cross-disciplinary approach.
The area PLANT chose to work with was once a former service yard on the Gairloch estate. All signs of the hired staff, dog kennels and laundry are now gone, but the cedar hedges planted to hide and maintain the picturesque views from the house remain, forming a room-like garden enclosure. Now empty, PLANT discovered that the hedges created an unintentional aesthetic envelope that incorporates a framed view of the lake, a copse of trees and a cedar wall leading south past Gairloch Gardens' tea house. They explored the tension between these edges, promoting a dialogue within this interior space.
