Hospitality
—
Sussex
,
2023
Hollow Lane Vineyard
Eleven hectares of chalk downland for a vineyard that wanted a garden. We drew one wide ride through the meadow, three places to stop, and then argued successfully for planting nothing else. Photographed each September so we can watch the meadow decide what it wants to be.
Scope
Hospitality grounds
The site
What we found
The vineyard wanted a proper arrival sequence — gates, planting, something to signal you'd arrived somewhere considered. Every version we drew looked like it was trying too hard next to eleven hectares of chalk downland.
What we did
The approach
We deleted the brief and drew a single wide ride through the existing meadow instead: one mown path, three places to stop, and a hard rule against adding anything the meadow wasn't already doing on its own.
We argued successfully for planting nothing else — the downland had already done the work, we just had to stop interrupting it.
Priya Raman, partner — delivery
Where it stands now
The meadow has since decided several things without us, including a self-seeded verge of knapweed nobody planted. We photograph it every September and let it keep deciding.