Savills has teamed-up with renowned Irish gardener, Andrew Christopher Dunne to create ‘The Savills Garden – Face to Face’ at Bloom – Ireland’s largest gardening festival – which takes place in the Phoenix Park, Dublin this weekend.

The garden is designed to highlight the importance of connecting and communicating ‘face to face’ within the confines and comfort of our own homes – a concept that is lost on many in the age of the smartphone.

Andrew Christopher Dunne, designer of The Savills Garden commented:

“With the ever changing landscape of the social media age, interactions between people and our environment has all too often become a series of text and images which we like, share, post and retweet.  Where we believe we are more connected than ever, in reality, the opposite is true.  In place of real interactions and engagements on a human level, we have succumbed to the ease of virtual connections and interactions which are often just a shadow of the real thing. Our garden has been designed to both highlight the problem and offer a solution to this disconnect and redress the balance in all our lives.”

Following the event, Savills will partner with the Docklands Arts Fund – founded by membership-based non-profit organisation, Business to Arts – to donate plants from The Savills Garden to the 4th Port Ringsend Sea Scouts Community Garden and the East Wall Mens’ Sheds Community Garden in Dublin’s Docklands. Andrew Christopher Dunne and his team will advise on how to cultivate and maintain the wide variety of plant species that will be donated to the community gardens.”

Speaking about the partnership, Angus Potterton, Managing Director of Savills Ireland commented:

“Savills is committed to enriching the communities in which it operates. As part of our commitment to arts and the community, we have recently become a corporate champion for the Docklands Arts Fund, which seeks to enrich the Docklands area through artistic means. We are delighted that some of the plants from our award winning Bloom garden will be donated to two community gardens in recognition of our commitment to playing our part in the rejuvenation of our city.”

Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of Business to Arts said:

“Business to Arts are delighted to work with Savills and Garden Designer Andrew Christopher Dunne, incorporating the design of the ‘The Savills Garden – Face to Face’ in two terrific community gardens, in tandem with Savills commitment to the Docklands Arts Fund. Recreating aspects of the design and facilitating the cultivation of the community gardens ensures the creative energy of the Savills garden lives on in the Docklands.”