A Garden for Every Parkinson’s Journey

Some projects stay with you.

Over the past year, we’ve had the privilege of working alongside Arit Anderson, Landscape Associates, Parkinson’s UK, Project Giving Back, Accoya, Eleni Shiarlis Lighting, and a wider team of collaborators on A Garden for Every Parkinson’s Journey at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Our role was to develop, fabricate, and install two key structural elements within the garden: the Hand Rill and the Night Canopy.

Designed to support movement through the landscape, these structures were intended to do more than define space. They create moments of pause, orientation, and sensory connection, responding to experiences that many people living with Parkinson’s encounter every day.

From the outset, the project called for a balance of technical precision and emotional sensitivity. The structures needed to feel integrated within the planting and landscape, while providing a clear and purposeful presence within the garden.

Working closely with Arit Anderson, we developed the forms using laminated Accoya. Chosen for its durability, stability, and longevity, the timber allowed us to create complex curved geometries while maintaining a refined and robust construction. Components were digitally modelled, precision milled using our 7-axis technology, hand-finished, and stained to sit naturally within the wider palette of the garden.

The Night Canopy became a particularly meaningful element of the project. Developed as a place of retreat, it reflects the experience of those living with Parkinson’s who may struggle with sleep and the effects of insomnia. Softly illuminated and carefully detailed, it provides a sheltered space for reflection, with perforations that allow shifting light to filter through the structure throughout the day and evening.

Every project presents its own challenges. What made this one distinctive was the clarity of purpose behind every decision. The design, materials, lighting, planting, and making were all shaped around a shared ambition: to create a garden that communicates the realities of Parkinson’s while offering moments of comfort, calm, and hope.

We were proud to contribute our expertise in digital fabrication, timber engineering, and making to help realise that vision.

Seeing the garden awarded the People’s Choice Award was a fitting recognition for the entire team and for the care, thought, and commitment that went into every part of the project.

Partners

Arit Anderson

Parkinsons UK

Accoya

Landscapes Associates

Eleni Shiarlis Lighting

Photography: ©NWE | Glasshopper