Traditional Verandah Company at the Chelsea Flower Show 2023
We recently built a bespoke verandah, which took centre stage in the Silver Gilt award-winning Savills Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023. The Savills show garden was designed by Mark Gregory, of Landform Consultants. Mark has created over 100 gardens at Chelsea and is a 5-time Chelsea Gold Medal winner. Mark is gardening royalty and we are honoured to have been asked to work with him and his team on this exciting project. For more information about the show, please follow this link to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show website.
A Royal Visit
We were delighted that HRH Princess of Wales took time to visit the Savills Garden during press day. Her Royal Highness was showing some local children the edible plants which they were able to taste, and was asking questions about the garden whilst chatting to Mark Gregory. Later that day, Their Royal Highnesses the King and Queen also took time in their busy schedule to visit the garden, speaking extensively to Mark Gregory about the planting, building and the sustainability of the project.
The Chelsea Verandah
The structure we installed in the Savills Garden provides a beautiful shelter, under which a professional outdoor kitchen has been fitted. Chefs used the kitchen daily to demonstrate the “plot-to-plate” ethos behind the garden, providing a special lunch for Chelsea Pensioners each day, throughout the show.
Mark and Georgina, our MD worked closely together to ensure the structure served its practical purpose and had the correct aesthetic to emphasise the traditional, country hotel garden feel Mark has planned. The central section of the structure has a bespoke ridged and valleyed roof, with double columns framing the entrance to the verandah. This special roof arrangement has been designed specifically for the Savills Garden.
The Garden
The Savills Garden showcases combined ornamental and edible planting, nick-named “edimentals”, providing inspiration for the ‘from plot-to-plate’ alfresco dining experience in the show’s first ever working kitchen. The integration of our verandah in the garden demonstrates the convenience of preparing, cooking and dining al fresco in a stunning setting, even in unpredictable weather.
The garden aims to challenge the way we think about gardens, how we eat and source our food, and to share ideas and knowledge that can be introduced into even the smallest spaces.
Mark Gregory, garden designer and founder at Landform Consultants, comments: “I am incredibly proud to have designed this garden for Savills. I think that it will speak to a lot of people and has, at its core, elements that are very close to my heart; a beautiful space, created considerately, that brings people together to enjoy fantastic food and great times. The garden will be a feast both for the eyes and for the palette, demonstrating that productive gardens can be both elegant and delightful.”
Sustainable British Design and Products
Mark has used environmentally sensitive hard landscaping materials such as reclaimed brick, pantiles, Yorkshire flagstone and cement-free concrete for the structure of this sustainable garden. All our products at the Traditional Verandah Company are handmade in Britain from cast aluminium components, using toughened glass in the roof. All elements of the verandah are 100% recyclable.
After the Show
After The Chelsea Flower Show, the garden will be used to teach cookery skills to young people at a residential centre in Nottinghamshire in a project run by the national charity Shaw Trust.
If you would like to discuss how a traditional verandah can add beauty and value to your property please get in touch. For more information about our designs click here.
For more information please call 01580 854891 and we will be pleased to assist you with your project.