Our brief was to design a quality place for living in the former walled garden of Dunboyne Castle, which is now a hotel and spa. The eighteenth-century house and demesne were typical of the period, with naturalistic planting, a stone perimeter wall, stables, parkland and orchards with the walled garden added during the nineteenth century. Various owners and uses over the years has led to a steady fragmentation of the demesne compromising much of its original context and meaning. Having been long abandoned, the walled garden was in poor condition having partially collapsed.
Our design concept was for a new ’garden village’ of sensitive, high-quality design, placed in a landscaped garden setting as a direct response to the original layout of the walled garden. The wall becomes an element that is both protective (of the outside world) and nurturing of the planting that will once again cover its internal face. When restored the original demesne structure will be viewed from within each house and as one passes the site. The houses are constructed of good quality materials, including brick, render and slate, all of which have a long life-in-use suitable for the historic garden setting. A sawtooth composition of pitched roofs is designed to be seen from a distance over the tops of the walls, in reference to market garden structures and in the spirit of a new ‘garden village’.
Our design concept was for a new ’garden village’ of sensitive, high-quality design, placed in a landscaped garden setting as a direct response to the original layout of the walled garden
