GROUNDWORK Ed.01
HELIOTOPE: Partners in light & Luminosity
JANE CAUGHT - A Rebellion for change
The gentle kiss of golden sunlight hitting a floating flowerhead has the power to transform a garden, evoking an ethereal and otherworldly feeling. Super Bloom are seekers of luminosity in all our work, and so it is with great delight when we find a kindred spirit and collaborator with the same hunger for light.
Jane Caught founded Heliotope Architecture in 2021 and her practice is unique in the way it seeks to create beautiful, aesthetically driven spaces that work in harmony with the environment and ultimately have a positive impact on our planet. Jane Caught acts as a revolutionist in the industry, driving an ambitious statement that beauty and delight in built form need not be at the expense of the environment.
Dreamers and schemers, Jane and Heliotope are collaborators at heart. ‘Humans have a critical relationship with plants, and yet much of our urban space is divorced from them. We see a more integrated future’.
Placing an emphasis on passive design is key to Jane’s practice, but more than that she designs with the changing environment in mind; extreme weather events, rising temperatures and a focus on sourcing sustainable resources.
Like the dry climate plants Super Bloom works with, Jane’s architectural designs are built to thrive in an ever changing environment and stand the test of time, designing buildings that offer low impact, expressive spaces that transform a space, for good.
It is with this drive to make positive change that sees Jane integrating plants and nature into the buildings she designs. With plants as the ‘green lungs’ of our earth Jane feels the sense of optimism that plants can bring to a design. The future is daunting, but through the integration of plants into our built world and a rebellious drive for demanding future-proof design, Heliotope are bringing joy and luminosity into the world.
Plant Futures: The Future in Bloom at Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show in March this year is a collaborative project between Heliotope, Super Bloom and Evergreen Infrastructure that seeks to start a conversation and challenge industry players to consider the integration of planting in our urban spaces.
‘More and more we look to the natural world to help us navigate our way through a changing planet. The more we can integrate living plants into our built environment, the more opportunities we have to encourage biodiversity, moderate micro-climates, and reduce energy intensive processes. More than that - the relationship between humans and plants is fundamental and sacred, and any opportunity to strengthen it should be celebrated’.
Acting as a tangible demonstration that planting in urban spaces can and should be expressive, bountiful and driven by beauty - whilst also being climate forward, diverse and vital to our ever changing cities.