The Natural History Museum unveils 5 acres of transformed gardens

The transformed outdoor space at the Natural History Museum opened this morning, unveiling five acres of gardens telling the story of evolution on our planet, from 2.7 billion years ago to the present day. Feilden Fowles led the transformation, working in collaboration with landscape architects J&L Gibbons and alongside Gitta Gschwendtner, engineersHRW and Max Fordham.

Driven by an ambition to conserve and enhance biodiversity across the site and working closely with the Museum’s expert scientists, the team developed a holistic plan which sensitively incorporates two new timber and stone buildings: the Nature Activity Centre supported by Amazon Web Services; and the Garden Kitchen, into a landscape of accessible outdoor living galleries, which provide a sequence of opportunities to learn about and explore urban nature, and the incredible diversity of life on Earth.

Respecting the heritage of the Museum’s iconic Grade 1 listed building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse and dubbed the ‘Cathedral to Nature’, has been a core guiding principle. Waterhouse arranged the Museum with past (extinct) nature in the east wing and present (living) nature in the west, an idea echoed in the thematic arrangement of the gardens. The Evolution Garden in the east tells the story of Deep Time, through The Evolution Timeline, supported by Evolution Education Trust, representing the strata of our geological landscape. A new learning landscape in the west, the Nature Discovery Garden supported by The Cadogan Charity, showcases the broad range of UK habitat types present today and future approaches to climate adaptation.

Bringing history to life, this immersive and awe-inspiring landscape is part of a national programme of activity aiming to inspire people, in particular young people, to fall in love with nature and become the naturalists of the future.

“For this to truly be an ambitious and pioneering project, this needed to be a collaborative effort, drawing in expertise, advice and input from inside and outside the Museum. We visited other gardens, learning spaces and ecology centres; we spoke to scientists, conservationists, geologists; we learned from our communities, teachers, families and accessibility experts and we tendered for the best design team who were equally inspired to deliver a sustainable, accessible and biodiverse-friendly design.” – Natalie Tacq, Urban Nature Project Programme Manager, Natural History Museum

To see more of the project, click here.

Image credit – Kendal Noctor / The Trustees of The Natural History Museum / Feilden Fowles