Flor & Fjære is a unique garden on Sør Hidle outside Stavanger. The addition of a new greenhouse makes this destination more self-sufficient and sustainable. The spectacular park facility on the island is the result of continuous, persistent and passionate work. It is an oasis that invites one to a feast for the senses. The new greenhouse is 4,000 square meters. It provides a completely new experience of the park, as well as an important transition to local food and energy production and thus, reduced transport. Here, guests can visit the Jungle Restaurant and event and meeting rooms, which are experienced as an organic and coherent part of the garden.
The greenhouse provides unplanted food and flowers for the garden. As flower production and winter storage of plants has been relocated to the greenhouse, the need for countless transportion stages by truck has been removed, saving energy and costs. When the flowers move out into the garden before the start of the season, the production of herbs and vegetables for the local restaurant takes over.
1,000 m2 of solar cells have been installed on the roof of the greenhouse. These make Flor & Fjære self- sufficient in electricity throughout the sunny days of summer. The excess energy gained from the solar cells is used to heat water in water tanks, which in turn is used to keep the greenhouse warm throughout the night.
Collected rainwater makes up the water in the garden ponds.
This is also used as irrigation water in the garden. All the rain that falls on the roof of the greenhouse is collected and recycled throughout the stages of production. In this way, enough water is provided to keep flowers and plants alive throughout the year. Drinking water is also now sourced from the island through new boreholes and a separate water treatment plant.
The placement of the new, innovative greenhouse has been done carefully to make the intervention on the terrain as minimal as possible, and so it does not dominate the impression of the landscape or the organic and lush garden. Everything revolves around the experience of the guests on the island. Here, it is not about where the path leads, but how it feels to walk on it. The aim is to create unique, rich and diverse experiences, through the smell of flowers, the rustle of leaves and glimpses of what one sees.
The greenhouse follows its own logic as a standardised building. The organisation and interior of the greenhouse have been thoroughly designed to strengthen and supplement the experiences in the garden. Lines of sight and subjective perspective are built up layer upon layer to achieve the desired atmosphere. Life inside and outside flows organically together.
