Alt Studios

We initially established a phased five-year development vision for this vast horticultural estate. The resulting brief required the relocation of the nursery site entrance, parking provision and retail offer with an architectural, landscape and interior design exceeding dated approaches and aesthetics of the horticultural market. Subsequently, two main challenges arose.

The first, to create a ‘destination’ and give reason for customers to visit more regularly — increasing and diversifying overall custom. This included designing a new point-of-sale strategy based on ‘sell the whole garden not just a plant’ through innovative and experiential means.

The second challenge, to address a significant level change from point of arrival to the existing glasshouses. Consequently, the proposal is influenced by the need for a gradual decent, allowing arriving customers to appreciate expansive countryside views while meandering through a wildflower meadow to the new entrance. The proposed retail buildings create a sheltered experiential courtyard — accommodating a central collection of sensory gardens displaying home-grown plants which can also be purchased on site.

Aesthetically, many site analysis curiosities are reinterpreted in a contemporary manner; from the regular structural rhythm of the almost infinite Venlo glasshouses to the materiality of agricultural buildings both on-site and across North Yorkshire.