Horatio’s Garden Chelsea, the beautiful and accessible show garden designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, has been awarded a gold medal and the coveted Best in Show.
Designed for Horatio’s Garden, the UK-based charity that nurtures wellbeing after spinal injury in vibrant sanctuaries in NHS spinal centres, Horatio’s Garden Chelsea is an adaptive garden that puts the priorities of all those with different mobility needs at its heart.
The garden will be relocated to the Princess Royal Spinal Cord Injuries Centre in Sheffield in 2024, where it will be eight times the size of the Chelsea show garden and become the eighth and latest of the charity’s gardens at NHS spinal centres.
Olivia Chapple, Founder and Chair of Trustees, Horatio’s Garden said: “As a charity that creates and nurtures gardens, it has been a long-held dream to showcase Horatio’s Garden at the world’s greatest flower show. We are simply thrilled that the show garden has been awarded a gold medal and Best in Show. We are so grateful to Charlotte and Hugo from Harris Bugg Studio, for pushing the boundaries to create such a thoughtful, pioneering and exquisite garden. And also, to Project Giving Back, without whom none of this would have been possible.”
Speaking about the awards, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg from Harris Bugg Studio, said: “We are so delighted to have been presented with both a gold medal and Best in Show for this garden. From the very start, the charity’s mission really spoke to us. Connecting people with nature is at the heart of everything we do at Harris Bugg Studio and this garden reflects all the stories and needs of the people we spent months listening to before even picking up a pencil to design. This garden is a story of people coming together to make something very special. From the inspiring individuals that make up the transformative community that is Horatio’s Garden to all the dedicated and talented people that worked with us to create the garden – from the contractors to the skilled British craftspeople to the horticulturalists and planting team – the spirit of all of those people made this gold medal a reality.”
The garden offers visitors to Chelsea a sense of the hope and transformative effect that having access to a Horatio’s Garden can have on mental and physical recovery following a traumatic spinal injury.
Beginning its life at Chelsea Flower Show, before being relocated to its legacy home at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, the garden is the antithesis of a busy, clinical hospital setting where patients often spend many months on a ward with no privacy or access to outside space.
Every element of the garden has been informed by the experiences of patients with spinal injuries. Planting is layered to accommodate different ways of seeing, a garden room provides welcome relief from the busy ward. Smooth, cement-free terrazzo paths are patient-friendly, environmentally-friendly and aesthetically beautiful, with a 77 percent reduced carbon footprint compared to regular cement.
The design is influenced by the stories, history and craftsmanship of the Sheffield region, connecting the garden to its legacy home where it will serve thousands of patients, families and NHS staff each year at the second largest spinal injury centre in the UK.
There is a living artwork of over a thousand clay thumbprints on display inside the garden room contributed by charity patron HRH Princess Eugenie of York and Appeal Ambassador actor, George Robinson, star of Sex Education as well as patients and NHS staff from all six of the existing Horatio’s Gardens and everyone from contractors to horticulturalists, involved in bringing the garden to life at Chelsea.
L-R Designers Charlotte Harris & Hugo Bugg presented with Best in Show award by RHS Director General Clare Mattherson