Our eighth project will bring the 'Best in Show' show garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 to form the heart of Horatio's Garden Sheffield & East at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre at Northern General Hospital in Sheffield in 2024.
“Horatio’s Garden Sheffield will really change people’s lives. All of us, patients, families and staff, are really excited.” – Mr Pradeep Thumbikat, Consultant Surgeon in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation
Exactly one year since the garden began its life at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, work has now begun on Horatio's Garden Sheffield & East. Located at the second largest spinal injury centre in the UK, the garden will support an extensive geographical area from the West Midlands to East Anglia, South Yorkshire to Lincolnshire. More than 360 in-patients, their family and friends, thousands of outpatients, as well as over 250 NHS staff looking after them, will benefit from it every year once it opens in 2025.
Designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg of Harris Bugg Studio, who also created the charity's award-winning Chelsea garden, and inspired by the history, geography and industry of its Yorkshire home, the garden is being built by Sheffield-based contractors RLX Construction and project managed by Gleeds.
The garden will be cared for by Head Gardener Ruth Calder, a RBG Kew graduate who has worked in heritage and botanic gardens, community horticulture projects, and as a freelance planting designer and consultant. She will be supported by a part-time Garden Administrator and a fantastic team of volunteers.
Garden designers -
Harris Bugg Studio
Harris Bugg Studio is an award-winning landscape design practice led by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg. Together, they have won six RHS gold medals, four of them at RHS Chelsea in addition to achieving 'Best in Show' for Horatio's Garden Chelsea. Their studio is consistently listed as one of Country Life Magazine’s ‘Best Garden and Landscape Design Practices in Britain’.
Understanding the spirit of the place is central to Charlotte and Hugo’s approach. Their designs always thoughtfully use vernacular materials, nearby nurseries and local craftspeople to ensure the garden speaks of and is connected to its broader setting, something which will be strongly reflected in their designs for Horatio’s Garden Sheffield & East.
Harris Bugg Studio distilled the Sheffield design into a show garden for Horatio's Garden which won 'Best at Show' at the world-renowned RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2023. Generously supported by Project Giving Back, it was the first Main Avenue garden designed with the requirements of people with mobility needs at its heart. Every item will be reclaimed and relocated to form the heart of Horatio's Garden Sheffield & East. Find out more about Horatio's Garden Chelsea here.
“I can’t emphasise enough how brilliant it will be to have a Horatio’s Garden here. I’d use it as much in January as in June!”
— Keith, patient of The Princess
Royal Spinal Cord Injuries Centre
Key design features
- An accessible water feature inspired by Sheffield’s industrial landscape, will use historic cutlery casts to form a multi-height arrangement for gently brimming water.
- Stone cairns, symbolic of wayfinding when the path is unclear, will be built by master Yorkshire stone wallers Lydia and Bert Noble.
- Accessible paths will be made from an entirely new cement-free, permeable terrazzo surface.
- Garden pods created in partnership with Mcmullan Studio will offer a cocooning, warm and welcoming space for shelter and privacy – with views out at different heights.
- Layered and sensory planting will allow interaction from various vantage points, reflecting how patients in beds or wheelchairs see and interact with the garden.
- Watch a tour of the Chelsea garden with Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg here.
Before: Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre at the Northern General Hospital
Now: Horatio's Garden Sheffield & East under construction at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre at Northern General Hospital
Find us
Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre
Northern General Hospital
Osborn Building
Herries Road
Sheffield
S5 7AU
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