When Nature Becomes Art

In Conversation with Floral Creative Director, Saskia Havekes, from Grandiflora

Saskia Havekes is the globally renowned florist and founder of Grandiflora, the studio behind the arrangements that welcome you into Elysium Noosa. Her work begins the moment you step into the lobby, where nature becomes art in quiet, deliberate strokes. Saskia does not arrange flowers so much as compose them, each vessel and stem considered for the shape it lends a room and the feeling it leaves behind.

Compositions shaped by the coast

Saskia’s floral compositions for Elysium beautifully translate the surrounding environment of the ocean, lush vegetation, and sand.

“I took inspiration from the coastal Banksia robur, which grows prolifically in Noosa, and combined its strength and character with large tropical leaves and white orchids as a juxtaposition and contrast,” she says.

“The freshness of the scale and simplicity has a feminine strength, with a nod to elegance through staccato forms. The vases and vessels play a strong role in creating and defining shape.”

The notes beneath the surface

Scent, for Saskia, is as considered as form. Her palette draws from wet and dry leaves, pods and crisp textures set against warm stuccoed walls, alongside ocean salt air and petrichor.

“It is a composition built to welcome relaxation while offering a noticeable elevation, present without ever announcing itself,” she explains.

“The arrangements shift gently with the seasons. A warm climate palette anchors the year, occasionally joined by seasonal elements such as japonica blossoms and frangipani.”

Months from now, catching one of these notes elsewhere may be enough to return you to Elysium entirely.

Continue exploring the collaborator series or discover Elysium Noosa’s rooms and suites, for when the time is right to return.