Students compete for Designer of the Year title

Five landscape design students from throughout New Zealand will be competing for the title of Student Designer of the Year presented by Yates at this year’s Ellerslie International Flower Show.

Katie Hilford (NorthTec), Luke Vazey (Unitec), Louise Hamilton (Lincoln University), H’lana Gilmore (Weltec) and Pete Hodge (CPIT) have all designed a small courtyard garden for a townhouse using sustainable home and garden practices and entered the new Emerging Designs student award at the Show.

Ellerslie International Flower Show Exhibition Manager Kate Hillier says the brief was for a garden for a young family, with two children under five, who had moved to a new house where they are likely to live for at least five years. “The family have been aware of the issues surrounding global warming and wished to have a sustainable home, using the limited space effectively for the children.

“The emphasis is on design and innovation, the new competition providing the students with a great opportunity to showcase their design skills to the thousands of visitors at the Show.”

Silver medal winner in last year’s Tertiary Competition at Ellerslie, Louise Hamilton has designed a garden inspired by Picasso’s cubism period. The design is based on strong contrasting colour and construction for aesthetics and function. “The underlying concept to my design is to create an environment that stimulates children to explore the outdoors.

“The garden will have elements of play incorporated into the design such as a small rock climbing wall and a glass prism which will refract colour on the surrounding walls when the sunlight shines through it.”

Louise says garden design is not about creating pretty landscapes but about trying to make a small improvement in people’s attitudes about the landscape in which they live.

H’lana Gilmore’s design was inspired by the sustainable life cycle of the monarch butterfly.
“I want to show that despite our busy lives it takes only a small 5m x 5m area to enrich our lives; it is a practical garden which also provides an area in which to relax.”

The top Weltec student has always been attracted to the natural environment, having grown up living on the edge of native bush in the Maungariki Valley.

Katie Hilford’s design will maximise the small space with her focus on culinary sustainability and re-use of the natural environment.

“The garden will emphasise the ability to create functional and intimate spaces which are closely linked but also separate to allow for areas for entertaining, fruit and vegetable growing, relaxing and most importantly an area for children’s play.”

She says an adobe pizza oven, fruit and vegetable garden and worm farm/compost are all part of the design. “A veggie garden and compost/worm farm were important, as was maximising water use by using a minimal amount of impermeable surfaces and using plenty of plant mass.”

Designed on three levels, the garden is named The Labyrinth.

Pete Hodge’s design provides a space that can be manipulated to create a variety of interactive environments which entertain, educate and inspired imaginative interaction.

“In this way, the raised platform becomes a fortress rampart, upper level of Barbie’s mansion or puppet theatre; the deck becomes an outside kitchen, a stage for evening family charades, a shaded seating area or a pirate’s ship.

“The slatted screen can be the palace walls, a surface on which to screen outdoor movies or an art gallery and the storage space to tidy away toys and garden implements can be a dungeon or grocery store.”

He says children and adults alike will be drawn to the “welcoming green space”.

Luke Vazey’s Alfresco Outdoor Kitchen and Vegetable Garden design is for a small eco sustainable outdoor kitchen and garden area that combines sharp modern styling with functional practicality.

The exhibit will combine New Zealand natives and edibles to create a habitat for birdlife, with an emphasis on educating the public that an edible garden can be a fun place to entertain as well as playing an important part in lowering the household’s carbon footprint.

Ellerslie International Flower Show is New Zealand’s premier week-long Garden Party in Christchurch’s North Hagley Park from 10 to 14 March 2010. The Show celebrates Christchurch’s Garden City heritage and the best of national and international garden design. Check out the website for further information www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz

ENDS

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