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Fabric Formed concrete panels for the RHS Chelsea

This garden design developed out of the research on fabric formwork for which Pedreschi won the RIBA President's commendation for Research in 2008, based on the book Fabric Formwork, co-edited with Alan Chandler. The project provided an opportunity to investigate the applications of the techniques in a live project, subject to very specific constraints in time, budget and resources.

The overall conceptual design of the garden was by Paul Hensey, a previous award winner at RHS Chelsea. This relied heavily on the large concrete elements that formed a major part of the layout and was based on earlier research and prototypes at Edinburgh. The detailed development of the form and construction methodology were developed at the University, where the formwork was produced, and the panels were manufactured at the University of East London by a group of senior architecture students and colleagues from both universities. The project demonstrated both the expressive potential of fabric formwork and its practical utility. The final dimensioned layout drawings were received only five weeks before the panels had to be installed on site - the time in which the detailed designs had to be prepared for 19 different, large, bespoke concrete pieces, the formwork manufactured and the panels cast and cured. The garden won a silver gilt award and the prize for most creative design at the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show of the Royal Horticultural Society.