Award-winning RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden to be installed at Mayfield

A gold medal-winning RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden is set to be installed between Manchester’s Mayfield Park and Piccadilly Station.

Designed by Tom Massey Studio and Je Ahn of Studio Weave for the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the garden has been reimagined for Mayfield by Studio Egret West, master planners of the Mayfield district and designers of the Mayfield Park.

The garden, which will include public seating and provide a ‘space for people to pause and spend time in nature’, is a key part of the programme to create a complete green corridor that links the 6.5-acre Mayfield Park, opened in 2022, with Piccadilly Station.

Duncan Paybody, Landscape Director at Studio Egret West, said: “Our reimagining of the Chelsea Garden follows the core principles of the design of Mayfield Park with a powerful ambition to act as a threshold where Mayfield touches the city centre, and where industrial character and emerging urban nature meet.

“It weaves reclaimed materials, local stone, water-sensitive design and ecological planting into a compact space, demonstrating how even the smallest public space can contribute to a resilient and distinctly Mancunian landscape.”

Pedestrianisation and landscaping of Baring Street, on track for completion in June, will strengthen the link between the park and the city’s main train station.

Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, added: “I’m so happy to see Mayfield Park growing. We can see how the journey from Picadilly to this new part of the city will be fully green before too long. This fits beautifully with our ambition to connect Manchester’s nature and waterways through the CyanLines project making our city one of the most walkable in the UK.”

The news comes as Mayfield is highlighted in a new report from the TRUUD (Tackling the Root Causes of Unhealthy Urban Development) research programme led by Henley Business School, which estimates that over 25 years after the development is completed, it will generate £274 million in health economic savings over 25 years.

The report said these major benefits – the equivalent of nearly £11 million a year – come from the addition of substantial green space, the incorporation of flood mitigation measures, the large new population living at Mayfield and the long-term dereliction of Mayfield before regeneration got underway.

Revised plans have also been submitted to Manchester City Council for the Poulton, the second office building next to the Republic, currently under construction. A separate transport hub will provide 380 bike spaces for the city. These buildings form part of the first phase of the new £1.5bn Mayfield district.

Henrietta Nowne, Development Director at Landsec, on behalf of The Mayfield Partnership, said: “The growth of Mayfield Park is key to our plans for the next few years. From the hundreds of thousands of people who have visited our park since it opened in 2022, we have heard loud and clear how much people value green space in Manchester. Our vision is to grow it even more as we build this fantastic new part of the city.

“The combination of heritage, nature and world-class buildings will make Mayfield a very special place to do business, the continued expansion of the park towards Piccadilly and updated proposals for the next buildings mark another step in delivering a well-connected, green neighbourhood in the heart of Manchester.”