Granular Chelsea
The Asthma and Lung UK Breathing Space Garden
Follow our journey to create a Main Avenue garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026. A serene woodland-edge garden designed as a restorative ‘breathing space’ for people living with lung conditions, featuring accessible paths, therapeutic planting, and a tranquil platform for breath-focused practices.
“Designing for Chelsea for Asthma and Lung UK and with the Rotherham relocation and rebuild gave us the opportunity to step outside residential design constraints. This is a hugely personal project for myself and the design team and my wife Kate works in supportive and palliative care with people with lung conditions.”
— Angus Thompson
The Pitch
Happy faces after the presentation
PGB PRESENTATION
How It All Began
Almost a year ago, in January 2024, we were delighted to be invited to present our shortlisted design to the inspiring team at Project Giving Back—the charitable body sponsoring a select number of gardens at RHS Chelsea for its fifth and final year.
From an initial field of 120 applicants, just 17 teams were shortlisted. Statistically, we had a one-in-three chance of success—no pressure at all.
Determined to leave nothing to chance, we refined and rehearsed our presentation extensively, testing it in front of trusted journalist colleagues. We commissioned a beautifully produced brochure for the panel to take away and were proud to be joined by representatives from both our A+LUK charity partner, James Culling, and the garden’s ultimate home in Rotherham, Breathing Space. With us were Jacqui Pollington, Ann and Paul Milner, whose presence brought the project’s purpose vividly to life.
As Jacqui reflects, “This was an important day in the life of a retired nurse who, after a lifetime of caring for others, now finds herself disabled by lung disease. For Ann and Paul, it marked the first time in four years they had felt confident enough to travel by train—always fearful that their oxygen equipment might fail.”
Paul & Ann Milner heading to London
Nervous faces ahead of the presentation.
With great relief, the day proved a resounding success. Ann was central to the pitch, and her contribution held the judging panel spellbound—quite literally—when her oxygen machine alarm sounded mid-speech. We presented our vision with conviction, clarity, and flair, and then departed to await the panel’s decision.
The Tree Nursery Visit
Belgium
SOLITAIR
November marked our second visit to the Belgian tree nursery ‘Solitair’—and the smiles on Dan’s face and mine said it all.
Catching the first Eurostar out of St Pancras, we arrived at the nursery by midday, only to be greeted with extraordinary news. The two exceptional character pines we had tagged on our previous trip—affectionately known as ‘The Brothers’—had suddenly become available at 10 p.m. the night before, despite having been allocated to a private project.
To quote Dirk Cools, the founder of Solitair: “We believe the most inspiring trees are those one-of-a-kind trees shaped by nature itself. To see these rescued pines become the heart of a Chelsea garden is a celebration of what beauty can be created by nature. As growers, it is rare for us to be able to offer trees with such an untouched, wild, and authentic character.”
Thus our trees were soon “in motion,” with the help of a fork lift we spend a few hours mocking up the Chelsea garden. Exploring how their branches might be oriented, how they would engage with the built elements, and how they could be positioned so that they almost—though not quite—kissed each other….
Below, a few punctuation forms under consideration.
RHS Media Launch
RHS Media Launch | Nov 20th 2025
…And we’re off!
Kate and I attended the RHS Media launch for Chelsea ‘26. This made public all the main Show Gardens and launched the RHS State of Gardening Report 2025 [ Below]
Below is our Site Plan for Main Avenue
Main Avenue Site Plan
The Asthma and Lung UK Breathing Space Garden
Artist Sketch
The Garden
This tranquil woodland-edge garden reflects the voices of people living with lung conditions, offering a calm, supportive ‘breathing space’ in which to recover and reconnect with nature.
Accessible paths, graded steps, and seated rest points lead to the heart of the garden, where two structural pine trees, known for their natural antioxidant and immune-boosting qualities, anchor a ‘floating’ platform. This sheltered space is designed for breath-supporting therapies such as yoga and tai chi. Running water and a still pond introduce soothing sound and reflective calm.
A restrained planting palette of green and white is lifted by highlights of purple and orange, with pockets of low-allergen plants chosen for their gentle impact.
Sustainability notes
The garden incorporates innovative sustainable materials and practices, including trials of Seratech cement blended with biochar and oyster shells to lock in carbon. Biochar is also used as a planting mulch and plants are grown in biodegradable pots. FSC-certified timber is used for fencing and the cantilevered canopy roof. Recycled aluminium oxygen cylinders have been repurposed as a water spout and channel drain. A symbolic touch comes from the inclusion of coal dust sourced from the UK’s last coal-fired power station, marking the country’s historic transition as the first in Europe to fully close down coal power.
Hear from the charity – Asthma and Lung UK
“We’d like visitors to be inspired to think about their own breathing, and take a moment to exhale during their busy day and experience a moment of calm. We also want to highlight the invisible impact of breathlessness for the one in five people in the UK who will develop a lung condition in their lifetime, and for people to be more aware of Asthma and Lung UK’s vision of a world where everyone has healthy lungs.”
Garden legacy
The garden will be relocated to the Breathing Space lung rehabilitation centre in Rotherham, supported by Asthma and Lung UK. There, it will become a permanent therapeutic space offering holistic support for people living with lung conditions, maintained in partnership with the local community.