Engineering pipe dreams

A garden inspired by the Mackenzie Country’s hydro engineering landscape – weeds and all – is in the pipe line for this year’s Ellerslie International Flower Show. It will be created by first-time Ellerslie exhibitor Paul Roper-Gee, a landscape architect with engineering consultancy company Beca.

The Beca team has designed an exhibition garden it imagines project engineer for the Upper Waitaki Hydroelectric Power Scheme, Max Smith might have created in Twizel, using the construction and plant material found in the nearby landscape.

Max’s Pipe Dream – an Engineer’s Garden has a large three-metre diameter penstock nestled into one side of the 10m x 10m garden and set amongst native and exotic plantings.

Paul, who has designed the garden and is leading the project, says the middle section of the penstock will open out to a water feature and also includes a garden room complete with sofa and table.

Paul says the water feature represents the network of canals that traverse the Mackenzie landscape carrying large volumes of water to the various power stations.

The garden will also reflect elements of Max Smith’s passion for rowing, which saw him create a world-class rowing facility, Lake Ruataniwha, at the completion of the Upper Waitaki power scheme.

The array of plants around the key structural elements of the garden will reflect the diversity of the vegetation in the wider Mackenzie region and scattered among the plantings will be lupins, wilding pines and willows which are considered weeds in the Mackenzie landscape.

Although primarily known for its engineering skills, Beca has a team of landscape architects, water specialists and building services team members all of whom agree that the exhibition garden is true a showcase of the work done by the company.  

Local landscape and construction firm GSL will help build the garden supported by Hynds Pipe Systems which will provide the large precast concrete elements featured within.