diff --git a/garden-service/src/plugin-context.ts b/garden-service/src/plugin-context.ts
index 165255a2377..1de0a38391f 100644
--- a/garden-service/src/plugin-context.ts
+++ b/garden-service/src/plugin-context.ts
@@ -13,11 +13,13 @@ import { projectNameSchema, projectSourcesSchema, environmentNameSchema } from "
 import { PluginError } from "./exceptions"
 import { defaultProvider, Provider, providerSchema, ProviderConfig } from "./config/provider"
 import { configStoreSchema } from "./config-store"
+import { deline } from "./util/string"
 
 type WrappedFromGarden = Pick<Garden,
   "projectName" |
   "projectRoot" |
   "projectSources" |
+  "gardenDirPath" |
   // TODO: remove this from the interface
   "configStore" |
   "environmentName"
@@ -36,6 +38,12 @@ export const pluginContextSchema = Joi.object()
     projectRoot: Joi.string()
       .uri(<any>{ relativeOnly: true })
       .description("The absolute path of the project root."),
+    gardenDirPath: Joi.string()
+      .uri(<any>{ relativeOnly: true })
+      .description(deline`
+        The absolute path of the project's Garden dir. This is the directory the contains builds, logs and
+        other meta data. A custom path can be set when initialising the Garden class. Defaults to \`.garden\`.
+      `),
     projectSources: projectSourcesSchema,
     configStore: configStoreSchema,
     environmentName: environmentNameSchema,
@@ -59,6 +67,7 @@ export async function createPluginContext(garden: Garden, providerName: string):
     environmentName: garden.environmentName,
     projectName: garden.projectName,
     projectRoot: garden.projectRoot,
+    gardenDirPath: garden.gardenDirPath,
     projectSources: cloneDeep(garden.projectSources),
     configStore: garden.configStore,
     provider,
diff --git a/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/init.ts b/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/init.ts
index 6974fdfed1b..2bb0e69f06f 100644
--- a/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/init.ts
+++ b/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/init.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export async function getEnvironmentStatus({ ctx, log }: GetEnvironmentStatusPar
   const k8sCtx = <KubernetesPluginContext>ctx
   const variables = getVariables(k8sCtx.provider.config)
 
-  const sysGarden = await getSystemGarden(k8sCtx.provider, variables || {})
+  const sysGarden = await getSystemGarden(k8sCtx, variables || {})
   const sysCtx = <KubernetesPluginContext>await sysGarden.getPluginContext(k8sCtx.provider.name)
 
   let systemReady = true
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ export async function getEnvironmentStatus({ ctx, log }: GetEnvironmentStatusPar
     const systemServiceStatuses = await getSystemServiceStatus({
       ctx: k8sCtx,
       log,
+      sysGarden,
       namespace,
       serviceNames: systemServiceNames,
-      variables: variables || {},
     })
 
     systemReady = systemTillerReady && sysNamespaceUpToDate && (
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ export async function prepareEnvironment({ ctx, log, force, status }: PrepareEnv
 
   if (systemServiceNames.length > 0 && !systemReady) {
     // Install Tiller to system namespace
-    const sysGarden = await getSystemGarden(k8sCtx.provider, variables || {})
+    const sysGarden = await getSystemGarden(k8sCtx, variables || {})
     const sysCtx = <KubernetesPluginContext>await sysGarden.getPluginContext(k8sCtx.provider.name)
     await installTiller({ ctx: sysCtx, provider: sysCtx.provider, log, force })
 
@@ -140,11 +140,11 @@ export async function prepareEnvironment({ ctx, log, force, status }: PrepareEnv
     // Install system services
     await prepareSystemServices({
       log,
+      sysGarden,
       namespace,
       force,
       ctx: k8sCtx,
       serviceNames: systemServiceNames,
-      variables: variables || {},
     })
   }
 
diff --git a/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/system.ts b/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/system.ts
index c5b6ed2e3a8..505901ad176 100644
--- a/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/system.ts
+++ b/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/system.ts
@@ -37,8 +37,17 @@ export function isSystemGarden(provider: KubernetesProvider): boolean {
   return provider.config._system === systemSymbol
 }
 
-export async function getSystemGarden(provider: KubernetesProvider, variables: PrimitiveMap): Promise<Garden> {
+/**
+ * Note that we initialise system Garden with a custom Garden dir path. This is because
+ * the system modules are stored in the static directory but we want their build products
+ * stored at the project level. This way we can run several Garden processes at the same time
+ * without them all modifying the same system build directory, which can cause unexpected issues.
+ */
+export async function getSystemGarden(
+  ctx: KubernetesPluginContext, variables: PrimitiveMap,
+): Promise<Garden> {
   return Garden.factory(systemProjectPath, {
+    gardenDirPath: getSystemGardenDirPath(ctx.gardenDirPath),
     environmentName: "default",
     config: {
       path: systemProjectPath,
@@ -52,7 +61,7 @@ export async function getSystemGarden(provider: KubernetesProvider, variables: P
       providers: [
         {
           name: "local-kubernetes",
-          context: provider.config.context,
+          context: ctx.provider.config.context,
           namespace: systemNamespace,
           _system: systemSymbol,
           _systemServices: [],
@@ -117,18 +126,17 @@ export async function recreateSystemNamespaces(api: KubeApi, log: LogEntry, name
 
 interface GetSystemServicesStatusParams {
   ctx: KubernetesPluginContext,
+  sysGarden: Garden,
   log: LogEntry,
   namespace: string,
   serviceNames: string[],
-  variables: PrimitiveMap,
 }
 
 export async function getSystemServiceStatus(
-  { ctx, log, namespace, serviceNames, variables }: GetSystemServicesStatusParams,
+  { ctx, sysGarden, log, namespace, serviceNames }: GetSystemServicesStatusParams,
 ) {
   let dashboardPages: DashboardPage[] = []
 
-  const sysGarden = await getSystemGarden(ctx.provider, variables)
   const actions = await sysGarden.getActionHelper()
 
   const serviceStatuses = await actions.getServiceStatuses({ log, serviceNames })
@@ -169,7 +177,7 @@ interface PrepareSystemServicesParams extends GetSystemServicesStatusParams {
 }
 
 export async function prepareSystemServices(
-  { ctx, log, namespace, serviceNames, force, variables }: PrepareSystemServicesParams,
+  { ctx, sysGarden, log, namespace, serviceNames, force }: PrepareSystemServicesParams,
 ) {
   const api = await KubeApi.factory(log, ctx.provider.config.context)
 
@@ -182,7 +190,6 @@ export async function prepareSystemServices(
 
   const k8sCtx = <KubernetesPluginContext>ctx
   const provider = k8sCtx.provider
-  const sysGarden = await getSystemGarden(provider, variables)
 
   // Deploy enabled system services
   if (serviceNames.length > 0) {
@@ -202,3 +209,7 @@ export async function prepareSystemServices(
     }
   }
 }
+
+export function getSystemGardenDirPath(projectGardenDirPath: string) {
+  return join(projectGardenDirPath, "kubernetes.garden")
+}