RHS Chelsea Waney Dune Seats

Lucy Gannon May 15, 2025

HOSPITALFIELD - DUNE GARDEN - RHS CHELSEA 2025

As we were shaping the scale models in sand at the very beginning of the design process we all imagined where we’d love to sit, and where we’d enjoy spending time in the landscape with others.

Two different areas were identified, firstly a more communal social space outside the artist studio, and then a more solitary reflective space sheltered by the dunes connecting visually to a body of water.

The design of the seats mirrors the sculptural quality of the dune-scape, but shaped using slices of waney timber from @englishwoodlandstimber in beautiful West Sussex.

We decided to use Cedar of Lebanon, and after selecting the impressive waney boards, we shaped the seats by hand in our own studio.

The form reflecting the sculptural sand dunes within the Hospitalfields RHS Chelsea Garden.

We very much look forward to seeing them embedded in the garden.

Nigel Dunnett Lead designer @nigeldunnett

The garden is funded by @project.giving.back

Super-human construction by @landformuk

Sculptors: @broadbentstudio

Charity partner @hospitalfield

Design coordination and detailing: @thelandscapeagency

Plants @hortus_loci

Bothy @bothystores

RHS Chelsea on Site

Lucy Gannon May 14, 2025

The vision for the Hospitalfield Arts Garden is taking form at Chelsea - with an incredible team and rich collaboration lead by the recognised Nigel Dunnett, Professor of Planting Design and Urban Horticulture. Cannot wait to watch the public explore & interact with the space.

Nigel invited us to join the team to help realise their vision and and explore the possibilities of this sculptural garden design. Our first collaborative project being in 2016 with the Garden of Pooled Talents in Sheffield. Photos below by Nigel Dunnett.

ON SITE AT CHELSEA

The first of the dune frameworks have been installed in the Hospitalfield Arts Garden at #rhschelsea.

Our initial excitement about this project stemmed from the sculptural potential of the landform, the coastal-style planting, and as for a studio or workshop in this setting… well, it’s everyone’s dream, isn’t it. Working half inside, half outside, continually stimulated by water and shifting sands… the theme of the landscape and the theme of human creativity. At the heart of both we see a dialogue of opposites. The concept of this garden, with its artist’s studio nestling between dunes and rainwater pool really caught our imaginations.

ON SITE

Photos by Nigel Dunnett

After much testing, and conversations - the method was developed to create the shape of the dunes using a fixed framework of wooden fins or ribs - made from @meditesmartply - a very durable external material. These fins are perhaps reminiscent of the skeleton of an ancient sea creature being exposed amongst the sand, or the hull of a long-wrecked ship.

The retaining views out from the studio would seem to be a key consideration for the theme. A studio is a space in which to contemplate as well as a space in which to wrestle with ideas. It is also, of course, a space in which to create mess, a working space. The Bothy by Bothy stores @bothystores was crafted in Scotland and will return to the relocation site in Arbroath Scotland where the entire garden will be redesigned and re-sited.

The cutting drawings, and technical side to realising a natural form.

Photos by Peter Davidson

The garden structure has been constructed by @Landform, with our Peter Davidson assisting daily, before returning to the studio to work on the Waney Dune Seats. The planting team have started to work their magic….

Photos by Peter Davidson

Nigel Dunnett Lead designer @nigeldunnett

The garden is funded by @project.giving.back

Super-human construction by @landformuk

Sculptors: @broadbentstudio

Charity partner @hospitalfield

Design coordination and detailing: @thelandscapeagency

Plants @hortus_loci

Bothy @bothystores

Camellia for a garden

Lucy Gannon September 1, 2023

Dunham House Water Feature- Camelia_Page_1.jpg

Dunham House Water Feature- Camelia_Page_3.jpg

Dunham House Water Feature- Camelia_Page_5.jpg

Dunham House Water Feature- Camelia_Page_6.jpg

Working with Darwen Terracotta on this unique personal project. whttps://www.darwenterracotta.com/

The water feature was part of a wider-redevelopment and landscaping by Planit-IE.

MAKING PROCESS

We are very excited exploring this new materiality and it’s possibilities for future projects - and also looking forward to this new relationship with Darwin Terracotta.

Pilgrim Porch - Installation May 2022

Lucy Gannon October 12, 2022

The unbelievable task of installing the Pilgrim Porch in Chester Cathedral by our good friends CB Arts.

The porch sits significantly yet subtly in this incredible space. The materiality and imagery compliments the fabric of the Cathedral - allowing a new dialogue. A sense of it always being there was expressed by visitors.

Finished photos to follow. Visit Project Page for more information about the process.

The ceremonial doors were installed in time for the Queens Platinum Jubilee celebrations on June 3rd 2022 with a service of Thanksgiving in the Cathedral on the 2nd June. The full refurbishment of the setting is not yet complete with Jerusalem stone flooring and forged handrails to follow. However the Pilgrim’s porch was admired by people inside and outside the Cathedral.

“An innovative new architectural feature which champions accessibility and heritage has been installed at Chester Cathedral’s West Doors.

The Pilgrim Porch has been designed by the renowned sculptor, Stephen Broadbent. It comprises a shell-like patinated cast bronze arch set behind the medieval timber doors of the Cathedral’s Perpendicular Gothic West front.

Donald Insall Associates is proud to have initiated the design and implementation of the installation to coincide with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The bronze arch, hung with a pair of large and heavy laminated glass doors, is patterned with a labyrinth design composed of images of every church in the diocese of Chester. A digital installation in the cathedral will allow visitors to find out about all the churches represented in Stephen Broadbent’s labyrinth.”

— The Standard

https://www.chesterstandard.co.uk/news/20190281.stunning-new-entrance-completed-chester-cathedral/

Arthur Dooley - Splitting the Atom

Lucy Gannon October 2, 2022

Restoring Splitting the Atom - Arthur Dooley’s sculpture at Daresbury Laboratory @scitechdaresbury from 1970. A piece close to our hearts. We still believe there is a magic relationship between art & science.

Read full blog about the piece and its scientific links from UKRI - UK research & Innovation;

https://www.ukri.org/blog/bringing-scientific-sculpture-back-to-life/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Orlo&utm_content=STFC+-+Daresbury+Lab+content.

Artist Arthur Dooley (in the hat in the background) with a TV documentary crew at Daresbury Laboratory in the 1970s. Pictured in the foreground in white shoes is artist Stephen Broadbent who has worked on the sculpture restoration. Credit: STFC

Captured by Paul Aden

“Art is a powerful tool for us to bring science to a wider audience, so it is important that the Arthur Dooley sculpture is here for many more years.

The work that Stephen and his team have done has brought it back to life, ensuring that staff and visitors can enjoy it fully now and I am delighted with Stephen’s support and contribution.

It seems especially fitting as it is Daresbury Laboratory’s 60th year, so the restoration is part of that story now as well.”

— Stu Buxton, STFC Regional Head of Estates and Facilities (North)

Imagery created for the vision document for the Linear Light Gardens proposal - highlighting this Dooley piece was a central conceptual catalyst for the artworks at Daresbury.

https://broadbent.studio/daresbury

The creation of a linear park, with a pathway that leads you through a story of science crafted in glass, stone and steel and integrated into a shaped landscape. It is a ‘pathway of progress’ as you walk out from the heart of the science park with five feature gardens. It is a welcoming ‘gateway into wonderland’ when you arrive at the park.

City Fields - Wakefield - Concept document

Lucy Gannon September 9, 2022

Artist Statement

We are an art and design studio that has demonstrated the role art plays as part of the built environment, and how it works with the rest of its surroundings to create a sense of place, which is the challenge faced by City Fields, as this new community starts to inhabit this former industrial area.

This is nothing new, as throughout history, wherever people have chosen to build a settlement, they have also crafted something of their own lives, their story or aspiration - a narrative perhaps fashioned in stone, metal and glass or acted out in the market or harbour place.

We always feel privileged to be invited into places built over generations, to help rediscover or re-invent something of their collective story. The City Fields story may feel it is just starting but of course it builds on an older narrative, that reveals the patterns and routines of people’s lives and presents a unique natural environment built by it.

Following initial research we have seen something that particularly stands out in our minds and prompts us to explore further. This is how the ecology of the area has adapted to this industrial landscape, inhabiting man-made green corridors such as the railway and canal, and the watercourses created by collapsed mines.

We are particularly intrigued by the concept of green corridors, and would be keen to explore how this could be expressed visually.

Green corridors are a meeting point for diverse groups of flora and fauna, whether they are corridor dwellers or passage users. They are vital refuges for biodiversity in the urban landscape and also important spaces for our own recreation and wellbeing, including our education in ecology.

Making the commission

After the development stage, the City Fields animals where fabricated in Ulverston at CB Arts and currently waiting to be installed after a series of delays. We cannot wait to see the colourful animals within this post industrial landscape. Look out for installation soon.

Stephen Broadbent and Chris Brammall at CB Arts looking at the City Fields piece in their workshop.

Future vision Specs bespoke seating installed at Sci-Tech Daresbury campus

Lucy Gannon September 9, 2022

Future vision Specs bespoke seating installed at Sci-Tech Daresbury campus

A photo of the 3 scaled up carved animals on a large block of stone

Making the animals for the Apothecary's Garden - UCLH

Lucy Gannon September 1, 2022

We are looking at locally sourced stone rather than an imported option. With regard to colour & texture, we looked for a good contrast with both the planting and the granite of the planter wall. The durability of the stone is also a consideration and also its ease of cleaning, suggesting a more polished finish. The final choice of stone was made in consultation with the Hospital Trust.

The Stone Animals

Working with our good friend Stone carver Adrian Wright - and his ability to capture the essence of the sleeping animals within the stone.

Installation of the sleeping animals in the Apothecary’s Garden at UCLH - November 2020

The Duck

The Fox

Artist Impression

Concept visual

Pilgrim Porch

Lucy Gannon March 1, 2022

A new window into the Cathedral.

Contribute to a diocesan wide art project.

The design of a sculptural bronze porch with ceremonial glass doors for the west end of Chester Cathedral will be unveiled in 2022 as part of the Queen’s platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The artwork within the glass will encapsulate a significant and meaningful photograph of a particular element from your church

Our vision is to include every single church in the diocese.

“Bishop Mark says: “It is relatively rare that an artist is commissioned to create a new permanent fixture for the interior of a medieval Cathedral.

Once completed our medieval west doors will be open and passers-by will be able to glimpse through the beautiful glass doors into the Cathedral and down the nave to the quire at the heart of the Cathedral. The porch will open the Cathedral to the city, inviting those outside in to explore further our beautiful Cathedral and discover the community that can be found inside.”

— https://www.chester.anglican.org/news/every-church-invited-to-contribute-to-new-jubilee-artwork.php

Find out more about the process

The Apothecary's Garden - The things of this world

Lucy Gannon February 2, 2022

Proposal for the UCLH Garden

CONCEPT

To undergo Proton Beam Therapy is to leave for a moment the familiar world. The patient enters a hi-tech environment so alien to their everyday experience they might as well be an astronaut on a mission to Mars.

Afterwards, it is as though they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and have to reacquaint themselves with the things of this world. In this somewhat shell-shocked spirit they find the Apothecary’s Garden.

The Apothecary’s Garden is a place of healing. It is a haven of peace after Proton Beam Therapy and it contains plants from which to make medicine. But its greatest potential to heal lies in the fact it is a garden. A garden in which there are things like plants to help the patient remember the world they know.

We would like to build on this idea and bring a little more of the natural world around us into this place. Plants belong with animals, and we have in mind a series of animal sculptures carved in stone and set into the wall of each planter. We hope, through the familiarity of our chosen animals and a softness in the design of our sculptures, to enhance the soothing and therapeutic effect of the Apothecary’s Garden.

We would love to develop a series of hand hold pieces - celebrating the tactile nature of these sleeping animals.

More information about how this project developed to follow.

Moving Bradford Pit Memorial long awaited unveiling

Lucy Gannon September 10, 2021

On 5th September 2021 the Bradford Pit Memorial had a significant community unveiling.

Go to Project page

The memorial will continue to have a community focus - as the piece will hopefully become that signpost to the wider project, linking to aural histories and the legacy of the miners, and mining community. Broadbent Studio has felt privileged to be on this journey with Lauren and the miners group in realising their vision for a physical memorial.

For community involvement see the facebook group and website.

https://www.facebook.com/bradfordpitmemorial

https://bradfordpit.com/

Ongoing Projects : Becoming Visible

Lucy Gannon November 1, 2020

We try to keep you updated on our exciting projects and new ventures through social media.

There are also some projects that we are trying to make happen.

See our vision document for a new project entitled; Becoming Visible.

On 20th November 2019 we took part in activities hosted at St George’s Hall, Liverpool for UNICEF World Children’s Day. See full vision document .

BECOMING VISIBLE IS A PUBLIC ART PROPOSAL THAT ANSWERS THREE CALLS:

The call to erect a beacon to the Rights of the Child
The call to create a grown-up public space for children
The call to involve children in public life

The Eudaemonium hidden bookcase

Lucy Gannon January 24, 2019

The Eudaemonium project would also like your input - for more information see the project page.

WHAT IS THE EUDAEMONIUM?

A living sculptural book that grows as people contribute to it.

The Eudaemonium stands in the square as a symbol of a community’s hidden treasure and acts as a physical marker within the landscape to encourage people to collect and share routes to well-being with one-another.

There is a hidden locked bookcase built within the spine of the sculpture, which houses the compendium of recipes and remedies or routes to well-being.