Holdron’s Green

Studio Justine Fox was invited by Ruth Campbell Co to be part of their practice's process to create a sustainable community wellbeing garden Holdron's Green at Copeland Park & Bussey Building in Peckham.

The main materials for the project were detritus left behind by past tenants of the surrounding workspaces. 

With a design, structure, and planting scheme already in place, the team at Ruth Campbell Co wanted a cohesive colour scheme to unify and elevate this onsite waste, giving it a considered architectural quality.

Our colour process within this project began with the space; a dead uninspiring area at the back of a gallery near the bins and surrounded by institutional metal fencing.

Red naturally acts to attract attention.

This space needed to be seen. 

Colour space defined, the nuances and proportionality of the palette were informed by the functionality and opportunities to support different activities within the garden. It’s important for inclusive wellbeing spaces to allow us to behave at different energy levels, higher chromaticity for more effusive engagement and softer tones for quieter focus. 

This palette was designed as a support, a unifying grounding for the biophilic elements that connect people within the space to the natural rhythms and cycles of our planet. Obviously, a plant in high summer can appear very differently to the same plant in the dead of winter and understanding how the planting would develop throughout the seasons was fundamental to creating a consistent harmony in their relationship with the applied colours.

The final step in our practice is to refer again to the surrounding area. When you checkpoint the context and align the harmony with existing structures and materials it makes easier transitions without the monotony of replication.

Bold colour doesn’t necessarily have to mean visually arresting. It can blend, almost imperceptibly direct and affect our feelings in the way we interact with the space and each other. 

Holdron’s Green was Shortlisted for The Developer Pineapples Awards 2023 in the category of ReUse Activation.