ELMORE COURT: PEN AND INK ARCHITECTURAL MAP FOR REWILDING
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“Working with Katherine was a pleasure. She is passionate about her work and was patient, ensuring that she understood our desired outcomes. We were delighted by the drawings and how they translated the landscape onto paper."
Anselm & Sarah Guise |
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Together with Elmore Court, I created two intricately designed maps which are given to guests visiting their new rewilded landscape.
Elmore Court is a magical old Cotswold family home that has been turned into a unique venue for weddings and parties. Committed to sustainability, the team are on an exciting adventure to rewild parts of their estate. This is a hugely important step in restoring biodiversity, wildlife and carbon capture – letting nature do its thing. 
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The pen and ink drawing process....
To start the project, I visited Elmore Court and had a tour, discussing the elements they wanted me to capture in their architectural drawings. At this early stage, there were a few challenges to overcome. Their tree houses (the main accommodation focus for the rewilding project) were not yet built and their rewilding project had only just started. This meant I had to research and use their architectural plans and designs to inform my drawings. Luckily, my architectural skills came in very useful here. I put together a document with a range of ways we could work together. This included the following options: 1) A pen and ink rewilding map focusing on the manor house and tree houses within the context of their land. 2) A larger scale map showing the whole rewilding site. This included an idea to map the wildlife in the area. 3) A species log showing the wildlife and animals that are spotted as the rewilding project develops. 4) A timeline showing the transition from farmland to rewilded land. |
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My clients Anselm and Sarah chose to start with the first two options. So I started creating more detailed drawings. This was the smallest building I've ever drawn - watch the video below to see how small it was!
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One of the maps I created features a bottomless swimming lake, set among the 250 acres of the wider estate. I love swimming outdoors, so I was really pleased that this swimming pool formed part of the project.
The map guides swimmers across the estate, to the beautifully maintained lake where they can swim among water lilies and other pond wildlife. How magical to go wild swimming in a rewilded place! |
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I loved this project, from start to finish. It aligned strongly with my core values and love for wildlife and nature. Anselm and Sarah said they were "delighted by the drawings".
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