Papillon celebrates 10 strong years
This year, Papillon celebrates its 10th Year in business! It’s been quite a journey with many, many highs and lows along the way. Here, we look back at the Papillon story to reflect on the last 10 years…
From Drilling Engineer to Garden Designer
Papillon was set up by founding Director, Angelique Robb. Angelique’s interest in garden design started as a hobby, working around her day job. She worked as a Drilling Engineer in Louisiana and then Texas, before moving to Aberdeen in 1999, where she worked for various companies in the Oil & Gas industry.
In 2007, Angelique decided to take garden design more seriously when she embarked on a Diploma in Garden Design. The course confirmed garden design as her calling and in 2008, a month before her first child was born, Papillon Designs & Landscaping was born - the first garden transformation started two weeks prior to the birth of her first child. The firm has grown significantly over the years, currently employing eight members of staff. In this time, Papillon has designed over 520 gardens.
The ethos
Papillon’s ethos is ‘deep-rooted’ – we aim to encourage people to enjoy their gardens through clever design and architecture. “Design to fit with lifestyle” is a big part of the process, as well as educating homeowners on planting, to work with the garden surroundings and soils.
Angelique has gained great satisfaction from her garden design work. She comments: “I feel very grateful to be doing a job that I love and although I enjoyed the work I did in oil & gas, I never found it as rewarding as garden design. Seeing clients’ faces light up on completion of a project means everything to me. It’s also great to help people enjoy their gardens more and make better use of their outdoor space. There’s so much that goes into garden design; the process starts with careful analysis and design, which we try to fit with the environment and the lifestyle of the homeowners. We then realise the designs through the construction phase before planting and finalising the softer landscaping side ahead of completion. We’ve had so many thank you cards and email gratifications from clients - it is truly rewarding.”
Innovation
Papillon keeps on top of current trends and innovation through various mediums. Many of the gardens we’ve constructed have included novel features and many have used innovative materials to add different dimensions. We’ve designed unique pieces of furniture and shields for gardens to combat wind and different ailments and we are proud to have introduced the North-east to many new concepts in garden design.
In 2016, Papillon became the sole Scottish distributor of the Biossun pergola – a French-built weatherproof patio-cover frame with adjustable slats to direct sunlight, electronic blinds and LED lighting. The contemporary unit adds, not just style to any garden, but a sitting area to prolong outdoor living come autumn/winter.
Environmental stance
We love outdoor space and we love our environment. Where possible, we add eco-friendly twists to our garden designs to help the planet. We recycle and upcycle where we can and we try to help others to do the same by educating and advising on environmentally-friendly materials, processes and techniques.
Accreditation
We run a professional business and are proud to have fully qualified and experienced staff, as well as robust management systems in place. We are members of the Federation of Small Businesses and are also the only firm in the North-east to accredited by the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL).
Accolades along the way
We’ve felt truly honoured to have won many awards along the way. This year, Papillon was recognised by the APL, when it won two gold awards for garden designs in Aberdeen and Ellon, at its national awards ceremony in London. Earlier this month, Papillon was also successful in the North East Trades Awards, winning the Garden Design and Construction category.
Our eternal thanks….
We, quite frankly, wouldn’t be here without the backing from our clients, past and present, and our friends, family and supporters. Thank you so much for all of your support…Here’s to the next 10 years!
Special offer to celebrate
As part of our celebrations, we are offering 10% OFF all Muztag outdoor fires. This offer is valid until 30th November 2018. For more information, please contact us directly.
Thank you from team Papillon!
