HAven

Southbank Centre, London

Summer 2023 - current

Haven: A garden for wildlife in Central London

The project was originally commissioned as part of Southbank Centre’s 2023 summer programme but has been extended and will be open until 2027.

This work is a collaboration with artists Denman and Gould and is located on a balcony of the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre in London.

The entrance to the Queen Elizabeth Hall, part of London's Southbank Centre. On the left, the external concrete, spiral staircase painted in yellow, leading to the roof garden. Part of this is an urban meadow garden inset beside the building's roof t

Haven is a garden for wildlife in Central London.

It was originally commissioned as part of a programme of events at Southbank Centre called Planet Summer during the summer of 2023. This programme of artworks and events included Southbank Centre’s pioneering Hayward Gallery exhibition, Dear Earth: Art and Hope in a Time of Crisis a group show itself inspired by artist Otobong Nkanga’s suggestion that ‘caring is a form of resistance’.

A view over the meadow roof garden at Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank, London. It is summer and the meadow is in bloom with foxgloves, daisies and achillea. The Thames is in the background, lit by sun.

A bespoke 'seed pod' structure carved in oak, created for birds and insects to shelter and nest in. Surrounded by native British meadow plants – part of the wildlife meadow garden on the roof space of Queen Elizabeth Hall, southbank.

Planet Summer inspires a call for action that all of us, making change together, can address the challenges of the climate crisis.

From above, looking down onto the meadow roof garden at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, central London, An urban meadow with british native plants including clover, daisy, foxgloves, achillea

Haven demonstrates that even small pockets of urban space can be used to provide vital support for wildlife. All the plants are native British wildflowers that have been carefully selected to attract bees, butterflies and other insects.

Detail of the roof garden meadow at Queen Elizabeth Hall, central London. Foxgloves, achillea, daisy, clover, yellow rattle

A detail of the concrete structure at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, London. The concrete is bordered by the planting of the roof garden, which is a meadow of british native species.

Detail of the roof garden meadow at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. An urban pocket of meadow to create space for wildlife with native British plant species.

The planting is punctuated by wildlife pods that can house nesting birds, drawn and hand-carved in sustainably sourced oak by Denman and Gould. The form of the pods are inspired by the ridged and textured beauty of wildflower seedheads.

A carved, oak 'seed pod' - a nesting and gathering place for birds and insects within the meadow roof garden at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, central London. Creating space for nature in an urban setting. Clover, achillea, foxglove and other nativ

Each pod contains space for birds to nest or perch and for creatures to shelter. When colonised, the sculptures will become vessels for new life; cradles of growth and new beginnings, just like the seedheads they are modelled on.

Read Arabella St John’s interview with me about Haven, in Garden Design Journal, November 2023.

The work is commissioned by Southbank Centre and is curated by Cedar Lewisohn with Mark Healy.

We are very grateful to Wildflower Turf Ltd for their sponsorship in kind.

Photography by Éva Németh

HAven

Haven: A garden for wildlife in Central London

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