I have been asked to design and build a garden for the Syrian refugee centre at the former Hazel Hotel in Monasterevin. The centre currently houses forty refugees who in the next week will be moving onto other centres in Cork and Kerry to begin the next stage of their assimilation. The next influx of residents will number one hundred and eight and will consist largely of several big families; mother and father with four, five, six children. They will be in residence for approximately three months and will then move onto other centres for further immersion and orientation. That, for the foreseeable future, will be the pattern at the Hazel; large numbers for relatively short stints.
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| Site Of The Proposed Garden At The Hazel Site |
This is the context into which we will be seeking to create a reflective space. So what exactly is a reflective space? It sounds like a fairly open ended concept and I suppose in one way it is meant to be. What it ultimately consists of will be determined by the requirements of the users. Instinctively we would have to assume that, given the trauma that these people have endured in recent months, the space will need to be heavy on atmosphere, seclusion and tranquility and light on cumbersome participatory and interactive elements.
Displacement from one’s home with no prospect of return is a harrowing ordeal. The emotional connection that the residents feel with their country is intact, the sense of loss and longing strong. Notwithstanding the fairly obvious concerns over climate I will be spending time researching and trying to devise a planting palette reminiscent of what might be typical in a Middle Eastern domestic setting. To reinforce the spiritual link with a physical link would seem to me to be an effective means of providing these people with a measure of psychological support. Here is an instance where everything we know about horticultural therapy will take on a whole other level of significance and impact.
The fact that for the most part the residents are transitory will mean that the distillation of the brief into what could be called a set of common needs and priorities will acquire more importance than usual. The garden will need to work for every user and cannot be tailored too dramatically in any one direction. I am told that the garden will be permanent, this inevitably means that over the longer term the profile of the user will change. So there are immediate, short term and long term imperatives.
The goal is to be evocative. Inherent in this is the attainment of a mood, an essence, a genius-loci that is hard to describe but easy to notice when encountered. Typically having less of a reliance on things and more emphasis on the creation of mood, it can be a difficult thing to conjure from a barren rectangle of nothing. I can see a pivotal role for water and wildlife, for a raised element to capture views of borrowed landscape. As far as is practical we will be endeavouring to eliminate artificial noise and, again climate notwithstanding, facilitate year round use. The challenging budget situation will, I hope, have the inevitable effect of coercing the sidelining of ‘stuff’ in favour of spirit. In this context the site analysis results; aspect, topography, levels, soil type,micro climate etc. will need to be appraised from a slightly altered perspective.
So, enough chat. The first step is to get the survey done and start kicking around some design ideas. A finalised design kick starts the procurement process; materials, labour, plant. One thing’s for sure; it’s going to be interesting, rewarding, enriching and a whole pile of craic. Make sure you stay tuned for updates.
The will is good but unfortunately the same can’t be said of the budget. We’re on a shoestring so if you are in a position to contribute anything which you think might be of help please get in touch with me.
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