Today we reveal the visual and new film for our Main Avenue show garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg of the award-winning Harris Bugg Studio and generously funded by Project Giving Back.
Horatio’s Garden at Chelsea Flower Show 2023 designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg of Harris Bugg Studio © Harris Bugg Studio
The visual gives a sense of the beautiful, immersive, restorative haven Harris Bugg Studio are creating, with every detail carefully considered to support people rebuilding their lives following a spinal injury.
Discover more by watching our new film below
Designed to be the antithesis of a busy, clinical hospital environment and with the requirements of people with mobility needs at its heart, Horatio’s Garden at RHS Chelsea will give visitors the opportunity to experience the transformative effect and sense of hope felt by patients, their loved ones and NHS staff in Horatio’s Gardens.
It will also give people a first look at the charity’s eighth garden, Horatio’s Garden Sheffield at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre, as every item from Horatio’s Garden Chelsea will be relocated to form the nucleus of the new garden in Sheffield as its enduring legacy.
The proposed site of Horatio’s Garden Sheffield at The Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre at Northern General Hospital, which Harris Bugg Studio will be transforming into the charity’s eighth garden © Horatio’s Garden
Charlotte and Hugo’s design incorporates the defining qualities of the existing, expertly designed Horatio’s Gardens, along with influences from the Sheffield region; spirit of place key to the Harris Bugg design approach.
Using tactile experiences, natural sounds and colours, Horatio’s Garden at RHS Chelsea will include important sensory features to enhance the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of patients with spinal injuries.
A water feature, which can be touched at wheelchair height, animates the garden and encourages wildlife; a fundamental part of the magic that patients often comment on when using Horatio’s Gardens.
Stone cairns give rhythm and structure; symbolic of wayfinding, they offer gentle guidance when the path is unclear.
A nest-like, organic garden pod structure, designed in collaboration with the architect Andrew Mcmullan, provides a year-round cocooning place for physical and emotional shelter.
Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg pictured chatting with a patient during a visit to The Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre in Sheffield © Horatio’s Garden
Charlotte and Hugo collaborated closely with the whole Horatio’s Garden community to design the garden. They met and listened to patients, their loved ones, NHS staff and volunteers to understand the needs and aspirations of everyone benefitting from time spent in Horatio’s Garden.
Horatio’s Garden at RHS Chelsea is not only raising awareness of the nationwide charity, but will also help to raise vital funds for Horatio’s Garden Sheffield. The charity hopes to build and open the garden at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre in 2024, where it will support over 360 in-patients per year, their families and friends, thousands of outpatients, as well as the 250 NHS staff looking after them.
Project Giving Back (PGB) is a unique grant-making charity that provides funding for gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. PGB was launched in May 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating effect on UK charitable fundraising. It will fund gardens inspired by a range of good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube to be part of our journey to RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023
Find out more about Horatio’s Garden Sheffield, how to donate and view our fundraising film here
