The Garden of Nové Dvory Castle: blending Baroque heritage with modern living.

Description

The project for the garden at Nové Dvory Castle interprets the regeneration of the historic landscape as an act of conservation through transformation. Of the original Baroque layout, which has now been partly absorbed into the urban fabric, the castle, the Church of St Anne, the greenhouses, fountains and pathways remain. These fragments are capable of restoring the garden's profound historical significance. Building on these elements, the project aims to restore the garden’s original significance while updating it. The garden’s key features are preserved as markers of memory and reimagined for modern use, forging a meaningful link between the past and the present.

The geometry of the 17^(th)-century parterres has been reinterpreted as a habitable topographical imprint. The ancient sections have been lowered by around 40 cm relative to the paths, revealing the historical layout without requiring the reconstruction of broderies or high-maintenance formal hedges. This same intervention transforms the parterres into rain gardens, which collect and slow down rainwater. This promotes infiltration and creates varied conditions of humidity and biodiversity.

The garden design combines Baroque features such as axes and perspectives with monumental trees, topiary and green screens, alongside a modern framework of shrubs, herbaceous plants, flower-filled and tall grass meadows, and wetland habitats. The result is a dynamic and resilient landscape that is easy to maintain, where historical heritage and ecological function go hand in hand.

The historic axes have been reactivated, but not recreated. The ancient Castello–Sant’Anna axis has been transformed into a spacious, inhabited backdrop of hornbeam, adorned with gateways, niches, seating areas, and play equipment. A new axis has been created towards the centre of the available space, establishing a new focal point. The stage, fountain and grotto-nymphaeum are located within this layout. These new spatial features blend into the surrounding vegetation and can host events, play activities and social gatherings, as well as providing a place to cool down.

The traditional division of spaces into ornamental gardens, productive areas and more private zones is reinterpreted with the addition of the Science Gardens. These comprise a rose garden, vegetable plots, orchards, educational pergolas and a multifunctional strip modelled on the layout of old greenhouses. Thus, the aristocratic garden becomes a public, productive and educational landscape.

The project is conceived as an incremental masterplan. At the regional level, the same principles extend to neighbouring Kačina, where avenues, woodlands, leisure routes and landscape connections are being revitalised. The castle gardens will once again become the heart of a wider cultural landscape where history, ecology, and contemporary life reinforce each other.