A landscaping project to transform open space at St George’s Hospital in Tooting has been completed in a challenging three-week timeframe.
Led by a landscape design team from Bowles & Wyer; the project began after a discussion with the chief executive of the St George’s Hospital Charity, who said the design had to be agreed, ground broken, and the work completed within just 21 days.
Hospitals are all about improving people’s health and wellbeing and we want to demonstrate the really-important role that landscape can play in that
Funded by donations from Sir Captain Tom’s charity efforts earlier this year, the design team quickly created plans for a Wellbeing Garden, acting as a green refuge within the hospital grounds and bringing both staff and patients closer to flora and fauna.
The landscape has two distinct zones: a formal seating area just outside the hospital entrance with resin-bound gravel paving, surrounded by bright and cheerful planting; and a more-secluded seating area further down the site, nestled among naturalistic woodland planting.
The planting scheme has been designed to appeal to the senses: carefully curated to add sound, texture, and movement through varied planting, as well as increasing biodiversity on the site.
Works involved landscaping the ground, laying pathways and paving, and clearing areas ready for planting; all while contending with waterlogged terrain and increased pressure on supplies due to COVID-19.
Chief executive of Bowles & Wyer, John Wyer, said: “We’re really pleased to have been given the opportunity by St George’s to be involved in this project.
“Our purpose as a business is to enhance lives and landscapes and this scheme goes to the heart of that.
“Hospitals are all about improving people’s health and wellbeing and we want to demonstrate the really-important role that landscape can play in that.
“Above all, we want people to feel they are in a garden – to take a deep breath, relax, and to feel some interaction with the natural world.”
Works are now completed and the new landscape will be officially unveiled on the Lorraine show on ITV this morning.