Harriet Irving Library Rose Garden

The Harriet Irving Library Rose Garden on the University of New Brunswick Campus in Fredericton, creates a new type of landscape on a campus dominated by open lawn and trees. The garden creates a contemplative space that provides visitors the opportunity to enjoy a year-round outdoor room, filled with a diverse palette of native and non-native species. The garden design takes cues from the formality of the surrounding campus buildings, working with existing landscape features such as a brick wall, and brick and wrought-iron gateway arches, to complete the sense of enclosure around the courtyard. A new hierarchy of pathways through the garden extend the symmetry of the Library’s west façade, and connect to adjoining pathways beyond the site limits. Custom elements and quality materials such as granite curbing, oak benches crafted by a local artisan, and a bronze donor recognition plaque elevate the quality of the outdoor space to the standard of the Library building. The highlight of the garden is the selection of roses that provide blooms from May through October, the native woodland planting around the outer border, and the sense of tranquility that comes with a visit to this special place – a welcome respite for students during their school year.

LOCATION
Fredericton, NB

CLIENT
University of New Brunswick +
Arthur L. Irving Family Foundation

Team
CBCL
Bird Construction
Earthworks Landscaping

photography
Dimana Kolarova