RHS Hyde Hall Seating project
Feb 2002
Oak
H 2.3m W 2.8m D 1.6m
Installed in February 2002 within the circular Bastion walling of the new "dry" garden at the Royal Horticultural Society"s Hyde Hall site, Essex, England, this piece of work was created and carved entirely of oak wood to be naturally durable and low maintenance in the exterior environment. It allows seating for 5-7 persons in a "two opposed modular bench" scheme layout.
The concept was to produce a durable seating scheme, which would blend into the surroundings of the rugged stone walling and the natural growth character and landscaping of the "dry" garden.
I wanted to give the seating scheme a strong vertical presence in its spatial arrangement initially to draw attention and to add a feeling of solidity and development to a new garden which by its nature contains primarily very hardy, drought tolerant low foliage and rock dwelling plants.
The exceptional wide boards of oak (80mm) thickness were carved and cut in such a way as create a light swirling, meandering effect. Each seating board is slightly tilted/slanted to give a more comfortable seat base and also allows adequate rainwater runoff.
The scheme comprises of four vertical components and five additional curvilinear under legs to support the seating zones. The whole scheme is irregular and essentially asymmetric with one side comprising a longer seating area and additional legs to the other, however it maintains a sense of balance through the central vertical section on which the opposing seating boards spread out in an almost flattened "S" shape form. The four organic vertical elements give the scheme and surroundings and instant feeling of strong, vibrant growth not unlike a large mature coppiced "stool" commonly found in woodlands in the South East of England.
