Tudor Gardens Supported Living Sensory Garden

One of our biggest projects for 2022, this garden represents exactly the sort of work we most love to do: creating therapeutic green spaces for London’s most vulnerable residents.
We worked closely with centre staff to understand the priorities of their residents. We explored outdoor games, sheltered spaces including a greenhouse and multi-sensory elements including a pond with fountain. Over three weeks in late autumn we conducted the works, adapting things last minute in response to client requests.
In 2023 we are running a series of workshops throughout the year, to engage residents in their newly improved space, educating them about its potential and adapting it to more perfectly suit their wishes.

Summary

Year: 2022

Client: Brent Council

Duration: 3 weeks + Gardening Club in 2023

Purpose: To completely refurbish the overgrown garden of a sheltered housing residence. To create a space which supports the wellbeing of residents, through enabling and encouraging them to spend more time outside, engaging with the natural world.

We found the site massively overgrown, with pathways obscured by hedging.
This was hard enough to navigate for us, but totally impossible for the vulnerable residents.
Our design team conducted in depth engagement with residents, mediated by their carers on site.
We brought simple resources designed to engage the residents with severe learning disabilities.
The final masterplan included a greenhouse and garden room, pond, games zones, biodiversity zones and raised beds for food growing.
We built in the wettest depths of winter, so the plants are not yet looking their best.
In spring, the pond will be filled with plants to support biodiversity, as well as to provide visual interest for residents.
The raised beds are filled with a mixture of edible and ornamental plants. We will work with residents throughout 2023 to decide how best to use the garden
The greenhouse will be filled later in winter as part of the seasonal workshops we will be offering residents.
Residents overwhelming preferred the warm red tones in our colour selection exercise, which inspired our glowing 'warm garden' area.
These coloured plastic strips are positioned to capture low light at sunset and bring warm colours to the space, even in the depths of winter.

Tudor Gardens Supported Living Sensory Garden

Summary

We found the site massively overgrown, with pathways obscured by hedging.

This was hard enough to navigate for us, but totally impossible for the vulnerable residents.

Our design team conducted in depth engagement with residents, mediated by their carers on site.

We brought simple resources designed to engage the residents with severe learning disabilities.

The final masterplan included a greenhouse and garden room, pond, games zones, biodiversity zones and raised beds for food growing.

We built in the wettest depths of winter, so the plants are not yet looking their best.

In spring, the pond will be filled with plants to support biodiversity, as well as to provide visual interest for residents.

The raised beds are filled with a mixture of edible and ornamental plants. We will work with residents throughout 2023 to decide how best to use the garden

The greenhouse will be filled later in winter as part of the seasonal workshops we will be offering residents.

Residents overwhelming preferred the warm red tones in our colour selection exercise, which inspired our glowing 'warm garden' area.

These coloured plastic strips are positioned to capture low light at sunset and bring warm colours to the space, even in the depths of winter.

Urban Growth Learning Gardens