Gardens of Hotel Paisaje and Pepe Vieira Restaurant

Rooting a Michelin-starred restaurant and its hotel in their natural landscape, Pepe Vieira, Relais & Châteaux
Poio, Pontevedra, Galicia.

The landscape that envelopes the site, situated halfway between the Galician coast and the inland countryside, was the guiding thread of the project. Verde Leria’s approach was to draw that setting closer to the hotel and restaurant buildings, making them feel part of their natural surroundings rather than imposing aformal garden onto it.

The planting strategy deliberately avoided decorative species in favour of those that bring an untamed quality to the space. Cork Oaks, Bay trees and Elders, all present naturally in the surrounding area, were planted alongside productive species such as fruit trees, grapevines and willows. These connect visually with the smallholdings and kitchen gardens of the surrounding countryside and with the gastronomic identity of Pepe Vieira’s cooking.

To ensure privacy between the hotel’s individual guest cabins, Verde Leria used the volume of large ornamental grasses alongside the existing tree canopy, a solution that is as effective visually as it is practically.

Pine bark was chosen as ground cover throughout, emulating the forest floor of a natural Galician woodland and reinforcing the sense of immersion in the landscape.

Verde Leria also extended the existing garden of the Pepe Vieira restaurant, integrating it with the new hotel gardens to create one continuous space connecting both buildings.

This was Verde Leria’s second project for Pepe Vieira. The first was the design of the restaurant’s kitchen garden, located across the road from the main site, further rooting the culinary project in the productive landscape of the Galician countryside.