Griffin Terrace

A garden motivated by its donor, designed with the principles of stewardship and ecology.

Bench Detail

Details

Groundworks Office was commissioned by UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, to design their new garden terrace. Technically demanding because of its location on the 5th floor and constrained by a tight budget. Groundworks Office used its creative might to design a garden that would imbue the fragile ecology of west Marin and memorialize the work of a stalwart environmentalist, Marty Griffin. 

 The feature of the garden is the Bolinas Bench, a hulking wood bench suggestive of the flotsam found on Bolinas Beach. The bench is the communal gathering spot for the terrace and provides an ideal spot to purvey the idyllic hills of North Berkeley. The garden is planted with flora that can be found all along the western flank of Mount Tamalpais, a landscape the donor worked diligently to save and protect.

Groundworks Office took special pride with our involvement on this project. Brennan made it a special point to meet with the donor several times and worked tirelessly to include comments from staff, students and professors.

Location

Berkeley, CA

Size

.13 Acres

Photography

GWO

Budget

$500k

Client

University of California

Year

2018

Status

Built