Interview

Go big or go home!

‘King of Chelsea’ Mark Gregory on Landform Consultants’ Best Construction win at RHS Chelsea

Photo credit: Oliver Dixon

Mark Gregory, Landform Consultants

This Platinum Jubilee year saw the welcome return of RHS Chelsea Flower Show back to its traditional May date for the first time since the pandemic. Visitors flocked to the world’s most famous flower show with increased enthusiasm. They admired the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, transformed with stunning horticultural displays and gardens bursting with native plants and naturalistic designs and to see how the awarding of medals unfolded.

This year, the much-coveted Best Construction Award (Show Garden) went to MEDITE SMARTPLY Building the Future, built by Accredited Contractor Landform Consultants and designed by Sarah Eberle. This atmospheric edge-of-forest garden had a feature building at its heart constructed using MEDITE SMARTPLY sustainable and innovative wood-based panel products to illustrate the future of sustainable landscapes and buildings. It was inspired by natural vertical rock strata and topped with a green sloping roof. A waterfall cascaded over the building to a pool below.

Olivia McCullough, Landscape News Editor, caught up with Mark Gregory, Managing Director of Landform Consultants to learn more about what the accolade meant to the affectionately known ‘King of Chelsea.’

OM: Firstly, huge congratulations on winning Best Construction at RHS Chelsea. Tell us a little bit about the MEDITE SMARTPLY garden and what made it so special?

MG: The scale of the garden wasn’t something that anyone had ever seen before, in terms of its size and form. It was a huge leap of faith for the entire team involved as none of us could be sure if it woud really work out. It was certainly very ambitious!

OM: What were some of the key challenges that you faced with this project?

MG: Working at height and the timescales both presented challenges, but that’s what Chelsea is all about - pushing yourself and the team. Everything about this project was big - big ideas, big trees – but I don’t want a simple Chelsea, you either go big or you go home! In terms of challenges and scale, it’s right up there with the 2019 Welcome to Yorkshire Garden.

OM: Can you tell me about how the project came about? Who approached who?

MG: Nadine Charlton, a friend of Sarah Eberle’s who used to be an exhibitor building luxury children’s play houses introduced us to MEDITE SMARTPLY – and the conversation began about how we could present this new technology in a different way and showcase the sustainable material that has exceptional longevity.

Photo credit: Oliver Dixon

OM: How long is the entire process of putting a Show Garden like that together, from initial discussions to completion?

MG: It could be up to two years, so for next year I am committed to three gardens already including one of my own designs. Things really hot up from the end of August when you are procuring and sourcing all the way through until December. There’s a lull in January, then from March onwards everything steps up and it’s non-stop!

OM: How did you feel when you heard the news that you had won Best Construction? What does winning an award like that mean to you and the team?

MG: Ironically, I wasn’t there! I was building a pop-up garden in another London location (at The Four Seasons Hotel) when I got the call. It was definitely a good day, and to then meet The Queen was a bonus. Really it was the perfect Chelsea!

Photo credit: Oliver Dixon

Designer Sarah Eberle Photo credit: Oliver Dixon

OM: What motivates you to keep coming back for more?

MG: It’s a strange way to make a living and it’s in our companies’ DNA. It’s the adrenaline and buzz that keeps you coming back, and not necessarily about the gold medal. Show Gardens are the perfect project really with a set beginning, middle and end. You just cannot run over.

These types of projects show our clients that we can deliver again and again, and are an amazing experience for our team members. Where else can you be exposed to the best of the industry like that? We’re competing against a standard and not each other and the camaraderie is amazing – you all have to work together. Contractors are the backbone of that show and being a part of Chelsea is inspiring, keeps me fresh, and allows us to benchmark ourselves – to deliver something world-class consistently. It’s such hard work but you wouldn’t do it unless you didn’t love it. I have it bad!

In Great Britain we are worldclass at delivering flower shows. RHS Chelsea to me is the pinnacle of gardening excellence in the world. To be part of that is inspiring; it’s the catwalk of horticulture.

Photo credit: Oliver Dixon

OM: How do Landform Consultants manage the juggling of building RHS Chelsea gardens with the day-to-day client projects? How do you utilise your in-house resource?

MG: It’s always part of our plan, we organise meticulously, we allocate our squads and we prepare our business. Communication is without doubt key along the way. My role is to step in if there’s a wobble anywhere and free up clarity, to keep the contracts running and look at pinch points. I’ve learnt to not wade in and let the team problem solve, that’s maturity on my part and a coming of age.

OM: In terms of the future, what do you think will be the key themes and trends that we will be seeing in the landscaping industry and in Show Gardens?

MG: Rewilding, nature, a lot more sustainable practices and sourcing of sustainable products. I think we will in the future need to show our carbon footprint, how you offset it, and also how you will relocate the Show Garden.

I think we will see pre-build and modulisation of gardens to help with the relocating – that will be a game changer. That’s the future right there. Minimise waste, minismise packaging and a focus on sustainability.

OM: What is next for Mark Gregory and Landform Consultants?

MG: Building a pop up garden at Windsor, then two gardens at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, some time off in the summer and then a number of domestic garden projects in the pipeline. It’s a very busy time and I’m feeling really optimistic.

We are also building up an emporium at our base in Chobham, Surrey where people can unite to look at demos, guest speakers, plants, sculpture and have a coffee surrounded by amazing and cool things.

We keep pinching ourselves, does it get better than this? There have been so many incredible projects recently - RHS Hilltop, the Tower of London – which is like buiding a garden on the world stage for everybody to look at. How special is that?

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