Terrence Higgins Trust Bridge to 2030 Garden

The entrance into the garden is reminiscent of the flooded base of a rejuvenated quarry landscape. The water level rises and falls, revealing a monolith slate stepping stone creating a bridge to the 2030 vision of no new HIV cases. The tombstone, which once represented death and fear, is now a crossing, leading to a secluded terrace in which to enjoy a positive, hopeful future together.
 
The front of the garden is a crevice garden, which takes inspiration from natural areas where plants grow in gaps between rocks. This ornamental space transitions to a more natural look towards the rear of the garden.
 
Granite boulders are scattered through the garden, inspired by those found in the slate landscapes of North Wales. One of these boulders balances precariously from the raised bed on the boundary, looking as though it is about to fall. Beneath it, fragile sticks give the illusion they are supporting the weight of the boulder – an analogy for those people lost to HIV.
 
The planting in the garden is inspired by the re-colonisation of plants in the redundant slate mines of North Wales, by both nature, and from the subtle intervention of ecologists and horticulturalists.

At a glance:

Who is this garden for? 
This is a public assess garden designed to welcome all
Where is the garden set?  
North Wales
Who or what is the design inspiration?
The AIDS: Monolith advert and the landscape of North Wales

Key sustainability points:

• A high percentage of the materials used in the garden are reclaimed or recycled such as the timber boundary wall or the patchwork metal retaining walls
• The majority of the slate used is the by-product from slate quarried to make roofing tiles. All are transformed into beautiful garden features
• All surfaces in the garden are permeable encouraging water to percolate into the ground where it falls
• We are limiting the use of cement by using surfaces that are of loose gravel or stone. Also to build our feature walls, steel gabions provide structure, with traditional Welsh dry stone and Clawdd construction techniques not requiring cement adhesives
• Precast concrete retaining L shaped wall panels not requiring footings will be used on the boundaries and will go on to be reused in road construction projects post show