20.09.24
European Garden Awards 2024: Climate mitigation lessons
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The European Garden Award 2024 went to a total of ten projects this year. The focus was on the topic of “Green Oases”. There awarded project hold many lessons, particularly in the “climate adaptation measures” category.
The European Garden Network (EGHN) has partners in 15 European countries. Together with the Schloss Dyck Foundation, a centre for garden art and landscape culture in Jüchen, the network has been awarding the European Garden Award every year since 2010. It recognises more than just spectacular and traditional garden elements: The award is broadly based and cross-sectional. It honours innovative concepts with urban planning and sustainability aspects that offer special attractions for visitors and value civic engagement.
The quality of the new or restored garden or park also plays a role, of course. The nominees and winning projects are intended to serve as inspiration and models for other garden projects. Each year there are two standard categories, “Management or development of a historic park or garden” and “Design or concept of a contemporary park or garden”. There are also other categories that complete the spectrum. On 28 June 2024, the European Garden Award 2024 was presented to a total of ten winners at Schloss Dyck.
Climate mitigation measures parks and gardens
There were three first European Garden Awards 2024 in the “Climate Mitigation Measures” category. Firstly, the Mount Stewart estate and park in the UK received a first prize. This National Trust-managed ensemble of castle, garden and park is located on the eastern shore of Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. Its “sea plantation” has existed here since the early 19th century, acting as a buffer against winds and changing the local climate by increasing temperatures, intercepting salt deposits from the sea spray and reducing wind speed. Sensors are currently measuring the temperature, humidity, soil temperature and moisture as well as precipitation to better prepare the sea plantation for the future.
The Waterdunen in Breskens in the Netherlands also received a first prize. They are a countermeasure to the loss of tidal nature in the region and are also an important nature and recreation area. The water between the dunes comes from the North Sea and helps to dampen the tides. It also provides food for worms, crabs and shrimps, which in turn attract birds. This is how the rare, valuable salt marshes, where sea vegetables and oysters grow, develop.
Thirdly, the Grüner Bunker in St Pauli in Hamburg received a first prize in this category. With a floor area of 75 x 75 metres, this former anti-aircraft bunker is one of the largest high-rise bunkers in Germany. Five pyramid-shaped storeys have increased its height to a total of 58 metres. A 560-metre-long green mountain path leads to the roof via ramps and stairs, where over 7,600 square metres of public green space have been created. There are also 1,700 square metres of greenery on the façade. The Hamburg-based studio Landschaftsarchitektur+ designed the project.
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Management of historic grounds
Walmer Castle and Gardens in Deal, UK, received a first prize in the European Garden Award 2024 in the category “Management or development of a historic park or garden”. The castle is characterised by its diversity: Beach, woodland, meadows, formal gardens, a kitchen garden and unusual herbaceous borders come together. English Heritage manages the garden and sees it as the prelude to a whole programme of other contemporary gardens. A wildflower meadow was also recently restored.
A second prize went to the gardens of the Manoir d’Eyrignac in Salignac-Eyvigues in France. The house and its gardens have been in the family for 22 generations and the garden has been open to the public since 1987. It was originally laid out as a formal French garden in the 18th century and remodelled in the English style in the 19th century. Today, the garden combines aspects of a Renaissance Garden with medieval kitchen gardens and a contemporary evergreen design. Over 300 boxwood and yew sculptures line the large avenues and demonstrate the art of pruning with scissors, string and plumb bobs.
Lednice Castle Park in the Czech Republic also received a second prize. The castle in its current form dates back to the 19th century. The remodelling of the park was completed in 1811 and was modelled on English designs. Among other things, islands were modelled in the lake and artificial elevations were created. In recent years, the park has been redesigned, including the renovation of the palm house with its semi-circular roof.
Design of contemporary facilities
In the category “Design or concept of a contemporary park or garden”, a first prize in the European Garden Award 2024 went to the Festival International de Jardins / Hortillonages in Amiens, France. This summer event features gardens, landscapes and artworks on the floating Hortillonages islands, which are accessible both on foot and by boat. The garden festival has been running since 2010 and aims to strengthen the links between contemporary gardens and artworks, ecology, social integration and sustainable regional development.
A second prize went to Zurich for the Atmos roof garden by Studio Vulkan Landschaftsarchitektur and EM2N Architekten. The Atmos area creates public space and offers a green garden. On 1,500 square metres, there is space for peace and inspiration. In addition, the heavily planted roof garden with its raised beds is part of the water management system: it serves as a water reservoir and collects sufficient irrigation for its own plants.
The Hepworth Wakefield Garden in the UK by Tom Stuart-Smith also received a second prize. It is a sculpture garden on the Calder River. Open spaces, stepless paths and seating make it possible to explore the garden in Rue. With over 14,000 perennials, 120 metres of beech hedge, 60,000 flower bulbs and 52 trees and shrubs, the garden is attractive at any time of year. In addition, many of the plants selected are drought resistant.
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Schloss Dyck Foundation’s Special Award at the European Garden Award 2024
To mark its 25th anniversary, the Schloss Dyck Foundation has awarded its special award to a garden project that defies the usual categories and achieves something special: “Nad Dzherelom” is a green oasis of calm in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. This place used to be a quarry, now it is an oasis of peace for internally displaced persons, which is unfortunately urgently needed. The park also shows how it is possible to transform an inhospitable, abandoned quarry into a park with little use of resources. A new lake forms the centrepiece of the park. It offers recreation and also collects rainwater from the surrounding area. In order to disturb the ecosystem as little as possible, the topography of the site was not altered. Among other things, the project also won a New European Bauhaus 2024 award. It shows how neglected natural spaces can be revitalised with low-cost, fast-acting measures.
The jury members of the European Garden Award in 2024 were Roswitha Arnold (Chairwoman/Germany), Kerstin Abicht (Germany), Ed Bennis (Great Britain), Gunnar Ericson (Sweden), Jacob Fischer (Denmark), Davorin Gazvoda (Slovenia), Johanna Leissner (Germany), Philipp Sattler (Germany), Jens Spanjer (Germany), Lieneke van Campen (Netherlands) and Michael Walker (Great Britain).
