Horatio’s Garden Chelsea 2023

Main Avenue’s 1st adaptive garden

Horatio’s Garden Chelsea was conceived to be a place of true respite for those affected by traumatic spinal injuries. Designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg, this adaptive garden put the priorities of all those with different mobility needs at its heart and embraced the mission of Horatio’s Garden charity to nurture wellbeing after 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 was 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 was informed by the experiences of patients with spinal injuries. Planting was layered to accommodate different ways of seeing, a garden room provides welcome relief from the busy ward. Smooth, cement-free terrazzo paths were patient-friendly, environmentally-friendly and aesthetically beautiful.

The design was 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.

“The garden is uplifting, beautiful and considered… The brief and the garden was delivered at an exceptional level.” – Marie-Louise Agius, RHS Chair of Show Garden judges

Awards

RHS Chelsea 2023: Best in Show & Gold medal

Surface Design Awards 2025: Best Public Realm Exterior Surface

Press

Tatler: Exceptional charity garden wins ‘Best in Show’

Devon Life: Diary of a Chelsea garden

The Daily Telegraph: Best in Show at Chelsea

Collaboration

Team: Horatio’s Garden, Noble Stonework, Mcmullan Studio, Dynamic 3, Ryan Alexander Associates

Photography: Marianne Majerus