The eighth Horatio’s Garden to be created at NHS spinal centres across the UK will be unveiled at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, it has been announced.
The garden will be created by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg of Harris Bugg Studio and will be the charity’s first Main Avenue exhibit at the globally-known event.
The garden will be designed as an immersive and restorative haven – the antithesis of a busy, clinical hospital environment – and will incorporate influences from the Sheffield region, ahead of its permanent installation in 2024 at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre in Sheffield.
It is designed to give visitors to Chelsea Flower Show a sense of the hope and transformative effect having access to a Horatio’s Garden can have when coming to terms with a traumatic spinal injury.
Olivia Chapple, founder and chair of trustees of Horatio’s Garden said: “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Harris Bugg Studio to bring Horatio’s Garden to the world-renowned RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023.
“We are so grateful to Project Giving Back for this special opportunity as a charity to create a Main Avenue Garden, where Charlotte and Hugo’s thoughtful design will enable to us to share the important message that great design benefits the lives of everyone.
“This garden will have such a valuable legacy in then forming the nucleus of our eighth Horatio’s Garden in Sheffield in 2024, where we know it will improve the lives of thousands of people.”
Currently in place at seven NHS spinal units around the country, Horatio’s Gardens have become known as places of solace and tranquility for individuals and families affected by spinal injury, as well as for NHS staff.
Building on research which shows that being in contact with a natural environment contributes to an improved sense of wellbeing, which can have a positive impact on people’s rehabilitation, charity Horatio’s Garden continues to look to grow and support people affected by such life-changing injury.
Its next garden in Sheffield will help to support patients and families from a significant geographical area, from the West Midlands to East Anglia.
“Horatio’s Garden Sheffield will really change people’s lives. All of us, patients, families and staff, are really excited,” said Mr Pradeep Thumbikat, consultant surgeon in SCI rehabilitation at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre in Sheffield.
In approaching the design, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg have collaborated closely with the whole Horatio’s Garden community, and have met and listened to patients, their loved ones, NHS staff, head gardeners and volunteers to understand the needs and aspirations of everyone benefiting from time spent in a Horatio’s Garden.
Understanding that patients are often in beds for many months and that most in-patients will be learning to use a wheelchair for the very first time, their garden puts people with mobility needs at the very centre of the design.
Charlotte and Hugo’s design uses colours, scent, natural sounds and tactile experiences – bringing important sensory features into the garden 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 comment on when using the Horatio’s Gardens.
Stone cairns give rhythm and structure – symbolic of wayfinding, metaphorically offering gentle guidance when the path is unclear.
An organic and discreet garden pod structure, designed in collaboration with the architect Andrew Mcmullan, provides a year-round cocooning place for physical and emotional shelter.
Charlotte Harris said: “The mission of Horatio’s Garden really spoke to us – gardens as restorative, life-changing havens being the core purpose of the charity’s work.
“As designers, we believe everyone has the right to experience the benefits of nature and green space. Our design is about showing how meaningful, high-quality design can improve the lives of everyone in society and we want to show that functional and practical spaces do not need to compromise in terms of their beauty and aesthetics.”
Hugo Bugg added: “Our driving force at Harris Bugg studio is connecting people with nature, and from the outset we felt strongly that we wanted this process of designing for Horatio’s Garden to be collaborative – our role was to listen to everyone in the Horatio’s Garden family.
“Those voices and needs are reflected in our Chelsea show garden and have helped us to create a place where people feel safe, nurtured and restored by all the benefits of being in nature.”
