Sanctuary Garden
Sanctuary Garden
New Haven, CT
Developed in collaboration with a well-known architect and a public art advocate, the project reinvents the neglected urban conditions around a 19th century carriage house --once covered by asphalt and invasive plants-- and transforms it into an urban oasis for gatherings, music, art, and domestic life.
Sited underneath an elevated canopy of mature oak trees, the project took inspiration from the New England forest structure where an intermediate forest canopy and a ground plane of shrubs, and perennials create an enriched habitat capable of supporting wildlife and absorbing stormwater.
Within the new terrace, a grove of multi-trunked Kentucky coffee trees introduces an intermediate canopy layer, that cools during the summer and offers a striking sculptural presence during the winter. Along the perimeter, a floating vertical cedar enclosure creates a singular expressive backdrop that evokes feelings of both containment and expansion, while interacting with shade and shadows of the sun. On the ground plane, granite cobbles form intimate seating terraces, interspersed with understory plants, allowing intimate spaces for solitude and as well as larger spaces for gathering.
Through this quiet transformative garden, we are invited to interact in a place that is reoriented with the immersive choreography of the moving sun, shifting weather, and seasonal changes of color.
While at Reed Hilderbrand, Unknown Studio’s Nick Glase served as Project Manager, and Sr. Landscape Architect on the project from Schematic Design through Construction Administration. Throughout this project Nick worked closely with the client/architect, fabrication team, and design team Principals Gary Hilderbrand and Beka Sturges.
Project timeline: 2014-2016
Scope: Residential garden, concept through construction administration
Size: 6,000 square feet
With: Reed Hilderbrand LLC, Landscape Architecture
Nick Glase, Project Manager & Landscape Architect
Design Team: Pelli Clarke Pelli, Ted Whitten Design
