The Jo Whiley Scent Garden & Skin Deep

London, UK

We’ve already explored the many uses of Glassfibre Reinforced Concrete (GRC) in architecture – from sprawling private residences to towering skyscrapers, it’s clear that GRC can be applied across a remarkably varied range of applications. It’s likely time that we shifted our focus to another area in which GRC can be applied, something more modest but nonetheless exceptional: landscaping.

Likely the UK’s most renowned garden show, Chelsea Flower Show features incredible landscaping installations devised by some of the best garden designers in the world. In recent years, two prominent projects featured GRC elements – the Jo Whiley Scent Garden and Skin Deep.

Having already worked alongside award-winning garden designers as well as fabricating their own creative projects, Chiltern GRC were tasked with producing the GRC features for both of these outstanding installations.

Jo Whiley Scent Garden

Chiltern’s involvement with Chelsea Flower Show began with the Jo Whiley Scent Garden in 2017.

Designers, Tamara Bridge and Kate Savill had put out a call on social media for favourite scent memories which would be incorporated throughout the garden’s design with a select few responses to be inscribed along the its defining feature: the garden wall. This meandering centrepiece elegantly flows through the landscape, guiding visitors through the varying scents implemented across the garden. Moreover, the wall’s strong curves complement the structural plants and act as a perfect foil for the natural undulating foliage and flowers.

GRC proved to be the perfect choice of material for the garden wall. Chiltern were able to produce a feature that remained lightweight yet durable, enabling easy transportation and installation through its modular design whilst remaining strong and sturdy enough to remain effective as a retaining wall.

Skin Deep

The following year, Chiltern returned to Chelsea and produced some incredible GRC sculptural features for Skin Deep – a conceptual garden created for an established UK skincare brand and designed by Robert Barker. The garden forms a striking composition featuring a towering cityscape of textured blocks standing amongst a soft arrangement of ferns and foxgloves.

It is the conglomeration of blocks of varying colours and textures that stands as the defining feature of the design – each block formed to represent people and the multitude of different skin conditions that can affect any one of us over a lifetime.

In creating these blocks, Chiltern were able to lean on the aesthetically versatile properties of Glassfibre Reinforced Concrete. This allowed the team to form each block according to the designer’s precise creative vision, implementing varying grey-scale pigments and applying a range of surface textures and finishes.

The size of this immense concrete structure would likely have proved an issue for this temporary installation had it not been for the use of GRC. Yet again, the lightweight and durable characteristics of the material meant that the GRC blocks could be easily transported and handled manually during construction of the design.

The resulting composition is a rich exploration of texture, featuring a range of plants specifically chosen for their form and texture which complement the grey-scale textured GRC blocks rising above the landscape.

Conclusion

The work done by Chiltern GRC at Chelsea Flower Show are striking examples of GRC’s versatility in landscape design. The material’s unique blend of properties makes GRC perfectly suited to meet the demands of outdoor applications – whether creating robust retaining walls or elegant sculptures, GRC can be relied upon for its ability to mimic natural textures, withstand environmental stressors, maintain structural integrity and facilitate easy installation.

We’ll continue to explore the varied uses of GRC in following case studies so, if you’d like to stay up to date, sign up to our email newsletter and get articles sent straight to your inbox by clicking here.

Or perhaps now you’ve learnt about the applications of GRC, you’d like to get started in producing your own. We have equipment and materials available that can suit the needs of everyone from commercial manufacturers to small-scale hobbyists, get in touch to find out how we can help: info@power-sprays.co.uk