Trailfinders Australian Garden Presented by Fleming’s

MakMax Australia

Our client, Fleming’s Nurseries, exhibits annually at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show, one of the world’s most prestigious social and horticultural events. Fleming’s often wins awards for its unique exhibition stands. We were engaged to bring an architect’s design to life in the form of a unique temporary structure.

Our client engaged architect Ian Barker to design its most recent stand. The architect’s inspiration included themes of colonization and the discovery of Australia. Natural shapes and light play a large part in the design brief. The importance of the horticultural theme in the discovery of Australia is through botanist Sir Joseph Banks who, along with Captain Cook, first documented the unique native flora of Australia. We were engaged to bring this idea to life through the architect’s vision.

Although the concept was the work of the architect, some of the technical details of manufacture were not conceptualized until our engineers began looking at the design from a practical point of view. Being a self-supporting structure, we had a fair amount of control over the manufacture and fixing details of the project. One major oversight in the original design was the absence of natural light on the inner space of the dome-like structure. Our engineers and project managers suggested ports in the outer skin that would allow natural light to filter through. These ports were reinforced so as not to hinder the streams of light. Three visits from the architect and two prototypes later we had a structure that embodied the architect’s vision and was structurally sound.

The project is definitely a success from the point of view of all involved parites. Precise engineering and manufacturing brought this project to life. Attention to detail and simplicity in design save this project from being just another exhibition stand. Tall enough to walk through but low in points, the structure engages the visitor; stepping under and around the smooth white edges of the structure may evoke a feeling of stepping through a canvas tent on a beach as explorers may have done. Visitors to this stand are able to look past a crisp white sail, as if pulled taught under wind, out toward lush green trees. Allowing visitors to touch and feel will surely be a crowd-pleaser.

Project details

Location: London, UK
Size: 100 sq.m
Fabrics: Polytheme by Eclipse Textiles from Eclipse Textiles, Mehler M7205 by Mehler Texnologies Inc. from Mehler Texnologies Inc.
Engineer: Martin Eddleston, MakMax Australia
Design and Architect: Ian Barker, Ian Barker Architects
Project Manager: Julian Phillips, MakMax Australia
Installation: Matt Seymour, Apex Constructions