WHAT do you think of when you picture a garden at the RHS flower show? Some boxes of mini cacti perhaps, grown by local schoolchildren? Some well-pruned topiary, plenty of flowers and perhaps a water feature or two? It’s unlikely an office would spring to mind, yet that’s exactly what property firm Bruntwood is bringing to Tatton Park as part of its feature garden.
A series of free cultural events, ranging from live music to spoken word and workshops
Entitled ‘Field Office’, the 150 sqm installation will be a garden of diverse spaces and is designed by Landscape Architects Planit-IE to illustrate the positive impact of greener workplaces on staff wellbeing and productivity.
Traditional native hedgerows and trees will create a series of rooms, including a boardroom with an 8ft table hewn from a local oak tree, a kitchen with feeding stations growing fruit and vegetables and a country-style ‘kissing gate’ at reception. Featuring as many locally-sourced, environmentally-friendly materials as much as possible, each element will also be re-used across other Bruntwood projects in the region.
Bruntwood Chief Executive Chris Oglesby says: “The Bruntwood Field Office invites you to come in and explore our playful interpretation of how you might make an office in a field. The challenge was to do something different, by exploring ways in which business and culture can stimulate activity and create opportunity for a better working environment.
“It embodies our approach to creating thinking and also demonstrates our commitment to putting sustainability at the heart of everything we do. The Bruntwood Field Office offers spaces to think, to collaborate and to create, and its cultural ambience celebrates Bruntwood’s support of the arts in the company’s 40th anniversary year.”
The Bruntwood Field OfficeThe family-owned company is no stranger to creating work environments in outdoor settings, having owned the 220 acre Booths Park in Knutsford since 2004; now a thriving business community of start-ups, growing businesses and established brands, with additional plans for office expansion and housing. It is also investing in nearby Alderley Park, which has the potential to secure 7,000 jobs through the development of 38,000sq m of new space for life sciences. Up to 275 new homes are also envisaged at the former country estate. Once a closed site, these plans will make the heritage parkland accessible to local residents.
As an enthusiastic community advocate, over 10% of Bruntwood profits go towards arts, charitable, civic and environmental causes; RHS Flower Show Tatton Park being the latest in the company’s portfolio. To that end, it will be hosting a series of (free) cultural events in The Bruntwood Field Office, ranging from live music to spoken word and workshops.
These include Come Closer, three short yet intriguing monologues presented by the Royal Exchange and written by previous winners of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting; drawing workshops with urban sketcher Simone Ridyard; nutritious, sustainable pay-as-you-go meals with the The Real Junk Food Project’s Mary-Ellen McTague; various artist performances hosted by local festival Knutsford Promenades; office percussion with award-winning musician Delia Stevens; a moving repertoire by the Sacred Sounds Women’s Choir and a selection of summer music by the Hallé Youth Orchestra. The full programme can be found at bruntwood.co.uk/rhs-flower-show.
The RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, now in its eighteenth year, will also be showcasing City of Trees; an innovative movement initiated by the Oglesby Charitable Trust, Bruntwood’s sister charity, and the Community Forest Trust. It aims to reinvigorate Greater Manchester by restoring underused, unloved woodland and planting a tree for every man, woman and child in the city region. Activities and talks will take place within The Bruntwood Field Office and at the City of Trees installation.
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park takes place 20-24 July, bringing communities together to highlight and celebrate the best in local horticultural talent. More info at rhs.org.uk/tatton
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