Granite Herb Garden Enclosure
Date: 2023
Material: Granite
Location: Camlez, Brittany, France
Program: Herb Garden Enclosure
Collaborators: Timothée Ryan
Using the local granite bedrock, the low garden wall emerges as an extension of its surroundings. It is a rearrangement of existing conditions. Rather than introducing a new material to the site, the readily available material is used for the construction in order to keep a balance within the delicate terrain. The bedrock of granite reveals itself within the garden and interrupts the wall on one side. Thus, the minerals of the bedrock and wall provide nutrients for the herb bushes as the rainwater slowly erodes their surface. Rosemary, thyme, lavendar, sage, and lemon balm, mosses, and other plants, grow among the granite. Birds drink from the water that collects in the stone. With the use of local materials, the new structure can gently participate in the dance of erosion and emergence of life.

Granite Bedrock (Photo Credit: Laura Stargala)

Site Plan (Drawing Credit: Laura Stargala)


Granite and Rosemary (Photo Credit: Laura Stargala)
Exposed Bedrock Intersecting with Enclosure (Photo Credit: Laura Stargala)
The minerals of the bedrock and wall provide nutrients for the herb bushes as the rainwater slowly erodes their surface.

Plan (Drawing Credit: Laura Stargala and Timothée Ryan)


Stone Construction (Photo Credit: Laura Stargala)
Corner Detail (Photo Credit: Laura Stargala)

Construction of Low Perimeter Wall (Photo Credit: Timothée Ryan)
Using the local granite bedrock, the low garden wall emerges as an extension of its surroundings. It is a rearrangement of existing conditions.

Construction of Low Perimeter Wall (Photo Credit: Timothée Ryan)