Bowles & Wyer on creating winning show garden

As deconstruction continues at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, following the huge success of the world-renowned flower show, BALI’s Marketing and Communications Officer caught up with the Managing Director of BALI Registered Contractor member Bowles & Wyer Dan Riddleston.

Leading the impressive project, Dan highlighted the key features of the garden which included a number of complicated water features and a pavilion clad in hand-built drystone walling.

The garden, which has been designed by Helen Elks-Smith, included a series of water features which had been designed to appear from various points in the garden as if from a natural spring, creating gentle arcs and streams that flow quietly through the space before disappearing into the ground. 

Bowles & Wyer constructed the features to meet Helen’s exact specifications as to how the water should look and sound, while concealing the huge amount of pipework needed to facilitate them, within the structure.

Sited at the centre of the garden, the pavilion, which was clad in traditional drystone walling, featured two large cantilevered roofs and protruding water rills, supported by a large steel frame, from where water fell onto the wall below before flowing out over boulders and turf lower down. More water flowed down a central chimney, through a string of copper fins, each cut with a different sized hole to create a gentle rippling sound before falling silently into a copper container at the base.

To create the precise sound and visual effect required, Bowles & Wyer had conducted numerous trials off-site working with water experts and model makers to create real scale mock-ups and hone the design.

Construction of the pavilion including the steel frame, cantilevered roofs and most of the drystone walling had also been carried out off site and was carefully transported to the showground before being reassembled and completed to allow time for planting.  

Dan Riddleston, Managing Director at Bowles & Wyer, who is leading the build project, said:

“The complexity of so many different water features each with precise specifications and requirements is one that has really tested our engineering skills but it has given us a challenge that we have really enjoyed. To achieve the right effect, each component had to come together with absolute precision and even a small change in height or texture can affect the movement and sound it creates. Our job was to make sure that Helen’s design was executed beautifully and that everything is exactly as she had envisaged.

There is a vital collaboration triangle between sponsor, designer and contractor. Without an experienced and resourceful contractor a Chelsea Show Garden build can go wrong. The contractors experience, professionalism, team and hopefully good humour, makes all the difference to a successful build."

To get in contact with the Registered Contractor visit their directory profile by clicking here: Bowles & Wyer.

Photo Credit: Helen Elks-Smith