The Hospitalfield Arts Garden

The Hospitalfield Arts Garden takes its inspiration from the location of Hospitalfield Arts on the east coast of Scotland, with its continuous soft, fragile and precious sand dune landscape. The Garden has a strong sense of place: a sculptural and abstract representation of this natural habitat, with a focus on dramatic dune topography and evocative, resilient coastal planting. Not only the setting for art practice, it is also a place in which artists can garden. A place for both quiet contemplation and for group activities, performance, teaching and events. The ‘artist bothy’ studio and workspace sit at the heart of the design, nestled into the surrounding sand banks. A dune pool collects rainwater from the building and surrounding garden. The planting has a strongly coastal and mediterranean theme, and uses resilient plants with a focus on form and foliage textures and colours – mainly deep green, blue-green, grey-green and grey. Key plants include; Lagerstroemia indica ‘Natchez’, Tamarix ramossisima, Euphorbia mellifera, Armeria martima and Geranium palmatum.