The Hideout is the garden as a place of play and refuge in a world that can feel increasingly unstable. In this context, the importance of the garden is greater than ever in providing a space of relief, hope and rejuvenation.

Situated within one of the garden rooms along the east-west axis of Reford Gardens, The Hideout, reframes the language of emergency preparedness and defense by employing their materials in disarming ways. Investing the humble sandbag with a living organic presence, the project forms a soft fortress that lives, breathes, sprouts and blooms over the seasons, encouraging and engaging the senses through scent, touch, sight and sound.

Children may claim the Hideout as their own realm of play and imagination, teens as their hangout space, and adults as a momentary respite from graver concerns and responsibilities.

The Hideout installation offers many possibilities for customization and evolution over a two year period, with the options to add netting overhead for vine growth, ladders to scale the wall, furniture and amenities for visitors to further colonize the space as their own.

Conceived for the 17th edition of the International Garden Festival at Reford Gardens’ Jardin de Métis, Québec.