Scientific Garden

THE HOME OF SUSTAINABLE BEAUTY

Experience our open-air lab, a place of inspiration and beauty inside the Davines Village.

A lush garden of over 9,800 square feet frames the architecture of the Davines Village in Parma. Cultivated following the principles of organic farming and biodiversity, the Scientific Garden is not only the emblem of the values of beauty and sustainability that we have always advocated, it is also a true place of inspiration and study. Here our researchers investigate the properties of plants, new essences and ingredients behind the professional formulas created in our laboratories.

The Scientific Garden gives us the possibility of having a direct contact with nature and its infinite resources; plants are a source of study and inspiration for our daily and future work.

Davide Bollati

Chairman of Davines Group

From plant to product: circular research

The scientific garden embodies Davines philosophy. It combines — and elevates — the two complementary forces that drive us: scientific backgroundand humanistic vocation. This way, a model of circular research that is unique in the world comes to life.

Carlotta Del Canale

Head of Techincal Marketing

Sunflower

One of the most significant plants of the Italian landscape, sunflowers thrive in the Davines Scientific Garden. Its oil is used in the Authentic line to ensure natural source of nourishment and moisture.

Product

Nourishing Oil

Plant

Sunflower

Artichoke

Artichoke extract is known for its purifying properties. This is why we grow artichokes in our garden and use them in the Naturaltech Detoxifying line that takes care of hair and scalp stressed by external environmental factors.

Plant

Artichoke

Lavender and Rosemary

The Scientific Garden is also home to lavender and rosemary plants and their extracts help create the signature fragrance of A Single Shampoo. Lavender comes from the Mediterranean region and has been used to cleanse the body since the time of ancient Rome. The name rosemary comes from two Latin words: ros and maris, that together mean "sea dew" and refer to the light blue hue of the flowers.

Plant

Lavender

Plant

Rosemary

Agastache

The extract of Agastache Mexicana has a strong anti-inflammatory effect with calming properties. Davines uses this super-active ingredient in Naturaltech Energizing, the line formulated for fragile, thinning hair.

Plant

Agastache Mexicana

Echinacea

Native Americans considered echinacea a sacred plant for its numerous healing properties. Davines grows it in the Scientific Garden for use in the Naturaltech Well-Being line: echinacea extract is rich in polyphenols known for their antioxidant properties.

Plant

Echinacea

Lemon

Freshly-scented lemon trees grow in both our cafeteria and Scientific Garden. The phytoceuticals extracted from this plant are used in our Naturaltech Rebalancing shampoo, ideal to control excessive sebum production.

Plant

Lemon

Design: a blend of science and humanism

The design of the Scientific Garden was entrusted to the London landscape architecture studio del Buono Gazerwitz. It draws inspiration both from the rural landscape of the Emilia-Romagna region that surrounds the company and from the sixteenth century geometry of the Garden of Simples of Padua (UNESCO World Heritage), the origin of all botanical gardens in the world. The garden's geometry — a circular plan with an inscribed square — is reminiscent of the Vitruvian Man and subdivides sections dedicated to different botanical types.

The plants of the Scientific Garden

Plants have been selected according to the scientific properties useful to Davines Research and Development laboratory or for the wellbeing of staff. The Scientific Garden is indeed both a place of research and a natural space one can enter to enjoy the beneficial effects of spending time surrounded by nature.

  1. Garden of aromatic plants: hosts plants such as basil, parsley, coriander and thyme. Some of these plants are used for preparing meals in our cafeteria.
  2. Garden of medicinal plants: it contains the plants present in our formulas, such as Echinacea, Agastache Mexicana and Mirabilis Jalapa.
  3. Garden of tinting plants: it hosts the tinting plants used to produce natural colors.
  4. Garden of perfumed plants: it is home to beautiful flowering plants and a wide variety of roses, including Boscobel, Vanessa Bell, Winchester Cathedral, Darcey Bussel, Munstead Wood and Wildeve.

Greenhouse

Our greenhouse was designed and manufactured in England with the aim of containing species that would not adapt to the Emilia-Romagna climate, but that are useful for laboratory research. Our goal is to select the plants we want in the greenhouse by the end of 2020. The ideal result: the central part of the greenhouse will hose an orangery, for citrus fruit typical of the Mediterranean and the two sides will host plants from humid tropical areas, such as banana trees, or cacti typical of dry tropical areas.

Arboretum

The Scientific Garden is surrounded by an Arboretum, a collection of trees from all over the world to represent our international community so that its cultural heritage and diversity can be symbolically present at the Davines Village.

Green Kilometer

The main highway is not far from the Davines Village, so on the northern side we planted trees that can naturally contrast the harmful emissions of cars. We are one of the promoters of the Parma Green Kilometer positive impact project.