The Florence Nightingale Garden: A Celebration of Modern-Day Nursing

An imagined courtyard garden for a new hospital. Marking 200 years since Florence Nightingale’s birth, the garden is designed to shine a spotlight on the critical role nurses play in modern-day healthcare. Many of Nightingale’s principles underpin nursing today, and the garden is an opportunity to celebrate both her legacy and today’s inspirational nurses. The theme is ‘nurture through nature’, inspired by the idea that the shortest path to recovery leads through a garden. This restorative garden, surrounded by a sculptural timber pergola on three sides, is for viewing from inside the building, as well as for sitting in and strolling through, with shaded places to sit, naturalistic planting, lush multi-layered greenery and water to engage the senses. The centre of the garden is gently mounded into beds and planted as a stylised woodland garden of sun and dappled shade.