May 2008 – Sinuous formability, stone-like strength, intriguing colours, a petal-silky finish DuPont Corian®, the original solid surface best known as a high-performance interior finish, finds its place in a garden environment with natural style.
The vision of contemporary garden designer Philip Nash brings together a stylish synthesis of flora, natural elements and man-made ingenuity in an innovative horticultural haven. Realised in collaboration with sponsors award-winning landscaping company Gavin Jones(recently granted a Royal Warrant), the design is destined to be a showstopper at the worlds premiere celebration of the garden.
Philip Nash explains his ideas, “The purpose of this garden is to entice and inspire; a retreat for the emotions and a space to entertain. From within, the garden is viewed predominantly from elevated perspectives which challenge your expectations. Elements of glass, water and light aim to create a touch of magic, while the structural forms of architectural plants are chosen to offer year round vitality and energy.
The garden has been designed on a curve and the key structural features, such as the walkway, terrace, seating area and waterwall exploit both the design versatility and the functional qualities of DuPont Corian® in new and exciting applications. This is a particularly exciting and innovative use for DuPont Corian® in a garden setting and it opens up a whole world of new opportunities to garden designers everywhere.
Nash explains, “I am inspired by contemporary architecture and am very much interested in the now so I wanted to use Corian® in a progressive and unexpected way and to open a creative window to explore its transformational qualities. Corian® adds a dynamic quality that you cant get from other materials. Once I had this as a core central point for the garden, the rest of the ideas spread like wildfire!”
The main feature of the design is a seamless walkway made from DuPont Corian® in Glacier White, which seems to hover above the garden. Stretching from the terrace, like a coiled fern unfolding its fronds, the walkway reaches out to a swirled seating area on the other side. On the terrace, a cantilevered table and benches appear to have been peeled away from the catwalk. To enhance grip – and add intrigue – the walkway has been textured with a subtle grooved pattern, created especially for this project by Philip, carved into the Corian® surface using CNC technology. The walkway and seating areas also feature glass supports from Fusion Glass Designs
A two and a half metre tall curved water wall made from DuPontCorian® in Blue Pebble creates a vertical sea with an abstract design cut into the surface, reminiscent of the patterns left on the sand when the tide is out. Break points causes the water to almost crash down the wall like waves breaking on the shore.
The boundaries of the garden, made from DuPont Corian® in 6mm thickness in the Seagrass colourway, offered another unique opportunity to cut a design into the back of the wall which, due to the translucent nature of the material in certain colours and thicknesses, will be unseen by day and reveal all when lit at night. (Five new enhanced translucency colours have also recently been added to the palette for Corian®.)
The DuPontCorian® team have been inspired by the new challenges this project has presented. Says Paul McDowell of McD Marketing for DuPont Surfaces UK, we are thrilled about this varied range of designs that introduce the extraordinary capabilities of Corian® to a whole new audience at Chelsea. Philips designs have allowed us to demonstrate many of the valuable features of Corian®, such as thermorformed shaping, joining with imperceptible seams and translucency, long appreciated in interior environments, but now opening up for an exciting range of exterior uses, even for cladding buildings! Furthermore, solutions to enhance the potential use of the material on walkways, dining-picnic areas and decking are being developed as a result of this project.
Another DuPont Surface also features in the garden in an innovative and unexpected way on one of the water features. An infinity pool made from Corian® in the new swirling veined colour Lava Rock has been lined with crushed DuPont Zodiaq®, the sophisticated quartz surface made by DuPont, providing a radiant backdrop to a floating terrace which appears to hover on water. Chippings of DuPont Zodiaq® in Blue Steel have also been used on some of the planting beds.
Further aspects if the garden design include sculpted glass screens that sit in a curved pool that cuts across the full width of the garden. Created by sculptor Tim Morgan, each screen is made up of glass tubes, through which water will rise up and trickle down from the top.
The planting is ultra-modern and architectural in style. The Plantation Nursery has sourced a rare chamerops humilis, cycas, yuccas and bamboo, all of which contribute elegantly to this contemporary setting.
The Gavin Jones Garden of Corian® is designed for both day and night; with carefully considered LED lighting schemes used throughout. Occupying one of the prime spots at the Chelsea Flower Show, MA1 it is sure to be a star attraction.
