25-27 May 2022
THE CHELSEA BARRACKS SPRING FAIR
BELGRAVIA’S ESTEEMED NEIGHBOURHOOD INTRODUCES THE SPRING FAIR
With its Artisans’ Market, Sustainable Flower Installations and a food and beverage market showcasing British favourites, Belgravia’s esteemed neighbourhood transforms its Garden Squares to celebrate the start of Spring.
For three days from 25-27th May 2022, Chelsea Barracks will transform the gardens squares and public spaces to coincide with, and celebrate, the Chelsea Flower Show. The development, which champions British craftsmanship and design, will host an Artisans’ Market, a showcase of artisanal horticultural products; launch the Best of British Garden Seminars, a series of workshops and discussions from pioneers in the horticultural and landscaping field; and serve British cuisine and beverages for visitors to enjoy.
GARDEN SEMINARS SCHEDULE
The Floral Installation
SHANE CONNOLLY
Chelsea Barracks in Bloom
To coincide with Chelsea Flower Show, the entrances to Mulberry Square and Dove Place will display an exceptional floral and plant installation by pioneer in Environmental Floristry, Shane Connolly. Award-winning floral designer and Royal Warrant Holder, Connolly’s environmental ethos, renowned for his sustainable approach to flowers, is a perfect synergy with Chelsea Barracks as it complements the development’s philosophy on sustainability and LEED Platinum status.
Visitors to Dove Place and Mulberry Square will be welcomed by an installation reminiscent of the great Victorian Era, in homage to the site’s history and taking inspiration from the original Victorian Railings that surround it. Connolly employs the creativity and eccentricity of Victorian explorers, plant-hunters, inventors and creators and seeks to deliver a Wardian Case for the ages. A terranium for plants that was in great use during the 19th Century and used to protect plants being imported into Britain from overseas.
Passers will be encouraged to explore and learn about the plants and herbs on display, such as their healing properties, much like a botanical garden. Interwoven into this will be iconic roses, a nod to the development’s signature Chelsea Barracks rose and the quintessential British flower.
Post show, plants will be donated to various community and charitable gardens that focus on wellbeing sensory gardens for people with disabilities or who grow medicinal plants. From the morning of Wednesday 25th, visitors will be able to sample a hot beverage from the Dove Place coffee cart whilst they reflect on various plants.
Jo Thompson
I am very excited to be curating the Best of British Gardens seminars for the Chelsea Barracks Spring Fair…”
"...By bringing together this group of exciting, influential and pioneering experts and designers we are able to offer a truly thought-provoking and inspiring series of talks, which will explore how to use colour with confidence, growing and using edibles, environmental floristry and how to create a sense of space and atmosphere in every garden.”
During the Spring Fair, Chelsea Barracks will present its Best of British Garden Seminars, a series of events, workshops and talks curated by internationally renowned landscape and garden designer, and Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist, Jo Thompson. Having previously collaborated with Thompson before for the Chelsea Flower Show, Chelsea Barracks revisits this successful partnership and invites existing partner of London Craft Week, Country Life, to introduce a series of thought-provoking talks and seminars (25th-27th of May) in the Garrison Suite Garden Room. Gardening experts and design talents such as Jo Thompson herself, Jekka McVicar, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg, The Land Gardeners, and sculptural artists Oliver Hawkins and Marshall Murray, to name a few, will join panels to discuss topics such as soil sustainability, designing small gardens, the medicinal properties of herbs and how art and landscape converge.
FIND OUT MORE
Discover
The Artisans' Market
The Artisans’ Market has been curated by The Beautiful and Useful Craft Fair and is a showcase of independent makers that celebrates British craftsmanship and artisanry. Mulberry Square will be transformed into a bazaar for the green-thumb enthusiasts and garden lovers to explore.
Visitors will be able to peruse and purchase sustainable artisan crafts including ceramic pots, British-grown plants, rustic plant supports and a range of naturally-inspired homeware and gardening accessories.
Celebrating
Independent Makers
- Hannah McVicar – Silk screen prints of flowers & herbs (daughter of Jekka Mcvicor)
- Electric Daisy Flower Farm – flowers from their own farm plus florists' accessories and gifts
- Wax Atelier – hand dipped beeswax candles and waxed products
- Ash & Plumb – sculptural and functional works in wood
- Plant Belles – plant supports
- Silvia K ceramics – slip cast contemporary tableware
- Bee Bowen – naturally dyed silk scarves and accessories
- John Williamson - Devonshire stave baskets
Discover
GARRISON SQUARE
Garrison Square, home to the historical Garrison Chapel and celebrated jeweller Theo Fennell, will become a destination to slowly while away a sunny afternoon sampling food and beverages. In continuing the best of British theme that runs throughout the Spring Fair, Chelsea Barracks invites British favourites Wild Idol and Nyetimber amongst others to the square for visitors to experience their produce.
Garrison Square sits at the heart of Chelsea Barracks, flanked by the restaurant building designed by Ben Pentreath, the beautifully restored Garrison Chapel, home to the Princes’ Foundation, and newly delivered retail units. Chelsea Barracks very own Village Square, this space will provide shopping and alfresco dining as well as a gallery space with a calendar of exhibitions for residents and Londoners alike to enjoy.
BEST OF BRITISH GARDEN SEMINARS
The Best of British Garden Seminars, are a series of events, workshops and talks curated by internationally renowned landscape and garden designer, and Chelsea Flower Show gold medalist, Jo Thompson. Having previously collaborated with Thompson before for the Chelsea Flower Show, Chelsea Barracks revisits this successful partnership and invites existing partner of London Craft Week, Country Life, to introduce a series of thought-provoking talks and seminars in the Garrison Suite Garden Room.
Gardening experts and design talents such as Jo Thompson herself, Jekka McVicar, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg, The Land Gardeners, and sculptural artists Oliver Hawkins and Marshall Murray, to name a few, will join panels to discuss topics such as soil sustainability, designing small gardens, the medicinal properties of herbs and how art and landscape converge. See below for the schedule and to book a ticket.
Landscape and garden designer
Jo Thompson
Best of British Garden Seminars
Wednesday 25th May
14:00Herbs: More than a Garnish
By CFS gold medallist and renowned herb specialist Jekka McVicar
Soil to Table
By award winning garden designer & renovators The Land Gardeners
The Gardener's Palette
Hosted by Internationally-renowned landscape designer and CFS Gold medalist Jo Thompson
Thursday 26th May
14:00How green is your bouquet?
By pioneer in Environmental Florist Share Connolly
Highgrove Gardens through the years
By Emma Cochran-Patrick, of the Prince's Foundation
Creating a Sense of Space in your Garden
By award winning landscape designers and CFS gold medallists Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg
Friday 27th May
14:00Creating Intimate Garden Spaces
Hosted by internationally-renowned landscape designers and CFS gold medallist Jo Thompson
Colour My World
By award winning garden designer Manoj Malde
The Art of the Outdoors: Sculpture & the landscape
By art curators Marshall Murray
Experience the
Sculpture Trail
As part of Chelsea Barracks continued commitment to Public Art, which began with the installation of Bicameral by RA Conrad Shawcross, a sculpture trail will be unveiled during the Spring Fair. A collection of works, curated by Marshall Murray, will display pieces from four renowned sculptors in a never before seen assembly of works. Spaced throughout the development, each piece has its own story to tell and passers will have the opportunity to learn more about each piece along the trail.
“Marshall Murray is thrilled to have curated the inaugural Chelsea Barracks Sculpture Trail, for which choosing where to place art was as important as the art selected. Working in collaboration with Chelsea Barracks, we have sourced artworks that will both reflect and complement the aesthetic of their surroundings. We seek to change the way people engage with space, rather than seeing art solely as ornament. The sculptures selected are also in line with the wider ethos of the development; its focus on environmental responsibility, championing British studios and taking the concept of progressive curation seriously. Working alongside a team who share these values has been a pleasure and we’re excited to talk to visitors about how they can apply the same principles in their own projects”
- Oliver M. Hawkins, Director at Marshall Murray
Bicameral
Conrad Shawcross
Moving Forward
Jill Berelowitz
Girl Seated
Jason deCaires Taylor
Seated Outline
Barbara Myers
The Artists
Conrad Shawcross RA is a British artist specialising in mechanical sculptures based on philosophical and scientific ideas. Shawcross is the youngest living member of the Royal Academy of Arts. Imbued with an appearance of scientific rationality, Shawcross's sculptures explore subjects that lie on the borders of geometry and philosophy, physics and metaphysics. Bicameral is the epitome of Shawcross’s work is the first piece of permanent public artwork at Chelsea Barracks.
Jason deCaires Taylor is a British sculptor, environmentalist and professional underwater photographer. He graduated from the London Institute of Arts in 1998 with a BA Honours in Sculpture. Taylor’s pioneering public art projects seek to encourage environmental awareness and lead us to appreciate the breathtaking natural beauty of the underwater world.
Jill Berelowitz is one of London's most innovative sculptors, known for her bronze, steel and optical resin works. Whether pursuing her long-standing passion for the intimacy and movement of the body, or flexibly working to a brief, Berelowtiz detailed understanding of anatomy and organic form gifts her work with sensual, contemporary appeal.
Barbara Myers - The essence of Myers' work relates to ideas of openness, communication and personal development.These themes are reflected in all her sculpture and paintings and particularly relate to her signature life-size figures in outline form , where they are seen to be in communication with each other in order to become complete.
Paul Vanstone is a British sculptor known for his work carving sculpture from stone, the nature of the material dictating how each piece evolves. His fascination is with the hardness and light reflecting qualities of marble and how this can be transformed to portray the curvature of the human body and the delicacy and flow of covering cloth.