Botanic studio set to feature at RHS Hampton Court
You never know what you may find if you wander down to the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show this year (5th to 10th July 2016). Crabtree & Evelyn will be tempting visitors into the sensory delights of their inaugural garden ‘The Botanical Studio Garden’, designed by Jade Goto, combining the heritage of Crabtree & Evelyn with their modern day vision.
The garden has been created to awaken natural curiosity, allowing visitors to uncover their perfume personality. The garden promises blooming evocative sensory experiences with fragrant notes that instantly transport you back in time to precious places and memories. Reflective and indulgent blocks of single species ‘mono-planting’ will be incorporated to create a path of discovery, capturing the essence of perfume fields in Grasse.
Visitors will be able to pick out their favourite botanical notes as they stop to smell the flowers. They will also be able to peek through the crystal clear, glass frame of the ‘still room’ and gave on the perfumer’s art.
At the end of this fragrant treasure hunt, visitors will be able to step into a striking contemporary Pavilion, a perfume playground, where you can explore all kinds of delightful treats and pick up some natural goodies to take home. The timber used for the Pavilion will be Malus sylvestris (Crab apple) which is the Crabtree & Evelyn logo and Ulmus minor (Elm), a species which John Evelyn is said to have saved from extinction. Complementing the timber, the use of copper and glass throughout the garden echoes the distillery equipment used historically within the ‘still room’.
Designer, Jade Goto comments that the opportunity to research Crabtree & Evelyn’s heritage and then combine it with a contemporary twist made for a dream brief: “The inspiration for the garden came from the concept of the ‘still room’, a room found in the great houses where garden plants were distilled to supply the house with fragrant waters and essential oils. We wanted to celebrate the single ingredient in its pure form and this evoked the perfume fields of Grasse, where a single species of plant will dominate the landscape as far as the eye can see and the nose can smell. Our aim is that the garden captures this visual and fragrant beauty, yet reconfigures it in a style that is both original and engaging,” she said.
The Botanical Studio Garden is in the show garden category at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.
