Seedlip Garden Columns
Chelsea 2018

About the project

Working with designer Catherine MacDonald and contractor Landform Consultants, we manufactured a series of 1.2m-high cylindrical stainless steel columns for the Seedlip Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018.

The primary manufacturing challenge was forming the heavily perforated stainless steel sheets into accurate cylinders. Rolling material containing numerous laser-cut openings creates uneven pressure across the sheet, increasing the potential for distortion and making it difficult to achieve a consistent cylindrical form.

To overcome this, the circular centres of the perforations were retained during rolling using microscopic tags. Each perforated sheet was then sandwiched between two additional sheets before being accurately formed using a CNC roller. Once rolled, the retained discs were removed and the cylindrical sections welded and polished to produce a smooth, seamless finish.

The columns were completed several months before the show to allow the pea plants supported within them to become established ahead of the Chelsea installation.

The Seedlip Garden was awarded a Gold Medal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018.