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United Kingdom London Chelsea Latitude/Longitude withheld studio Diarmuid Gavin Design Diarmuid Gavin Designs Limited, Studio 4 Folly Mews, 223A Portobello Road, London W11 1LU info@diarmuidgavindesigns.co.uk Website Year 2004 Type of Landscape garden Client withheld Area m2 sq feet Cost withheld Publications

The National Lottery Garden - A Colourful Suburban Eden © Diarmuid Gavin Design Description This vibrant, light-hearted garden is made up of a series of curved features. The planting, predominantly many different shades of green, is inspired by the 'Emerald Isle' where Diarmuid grew up. The green is punctuated with drifts of colour, which are echoed by a series of multi-coloured metal spheres. Other influences include the Festival of Britain, Damien Hirst spot paintings, the modernist movement and the Teletubbies. The multi-coloured metal spheres form a curved pergola overhead, following the pathway that meanders through the garden. The idea is repeated with an elevated wave of similar spheres supported on vertical steel posts toward the back of the garden. The curved forms are continued in an oval, contoured lawn, circular paved areas and a capsule-shaped pond wrapped by an elongated patio. A hi-tech, oval pavilion, also covered in small, bright metal spheres provides the backdrop to the garden. This structure functions as a summerhouse, and can double up as a conservatory. The emphasis in the planting is green, in hundreds of shades, using the effects of foliage over flowers. Structural plants such as Betula pendula (silver birch), Rhus typhina (stag’s horn sumach) and Gleditsia give backbone to the planting. Architectural foliage is supplied by Dicksonia antarctica (tree fern), Blechnum chilense (Chilean hard fern), Matteuccia struthiopteris (shuttlecock fern) and Fatsia japonica. Splashes of purple and bronze from the alliums, eremurus, verbascum, irises and heuchera pick up the colours of the spheres. (This text is from: http://www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea/2004/exhibitors/show_gardens/diarmuidgavin.asp) © Diarmuid Gavin Design © Diarmuid Gavin Design