A show garden created by Surrey County Council and AtkinsRéalis has won a silver medal at this year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival for showing how parking spaces can be converted into vibrant green spaces.
Surrey County Council’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival entry co-designed with AtkinsRéalis
The honour was presented to the garden which showcases three parking space-sized areas, which will all be moved to Surrey’s streets after the festival. They are:
- The Walton parklet focuses on air quality, with plants and trees that filter pollutants while providing shade and shelter.
- The Cranleigh rain garden demonstrates sustainable drainage, using climate-resilient plants to manage stormwater and how to reduce flooding risks.
- The Guildford parklet celebrates biodiversity. It’s crafted from reclaimed materials and featuring pollinator-friendly plants, bird baths and play elements to bring people and wildlife together.
Judges said it was ‘astonishingly clever’ to create a garden in such small public spaces. They said when you sit in the garden you feel cocooned in the street, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
The garden, designed by Helen Currie from Surrey County Council, and Steve Dimmock from AtkinsRéalis, was also highly commended with an RHS Environmental Innovation award for its commitment to sustainable garden design.
The exhibit uses the space to show parking spaces can be converted into vibrant green spaces.
Zoe Metcalfe, Client Director, Local and Central Government at AtkinsRéalis, said: “The opportunity to co-design this exhibit with Surrey County Council provides a real opportunity to demonstrate the importance of integrating green spaces in our streets and neighbourhoods.
“Designing sustainable communities to integrate nature and climate resilient spaces is key to tackling equity of access to green space and future fit communities. The show garden demonstrates how it’s possible to take vehicle-dominated spaces transforming them into resilient and thriving places for people and nature.
“The plants have been selected and integrated with a rain garden and sustainable urban drainage, to create climate-ready street-scapes to reduce impacts from intense rainfall and heat waves. Developing an enhanced public realm for community engagement in this way has a huge positive social impact as well as supporting wildlife and promoting health and wellness.
“To be awarded in this way with a silver medal is really great testimony of the design and recognition of the importance of these values in developing thriving streets to connect people and communities for a climate-ready future by working with nature.”
