Outdoor Designs
Since 2018, Lucy Clark (Studio Clark + Co, Chris
Beardshaw (Garden Designer) and Anker
Summerhill (Minotti London) have been working
together on installations for the RHS Chelsea
Flower Show.Now that the proverbial dust has settled and the
crowds have parted at Chelsea, we talk to the
team about design, for indoors and out and the
beauty of collaboration.Tell us about how the collaboration came about.
Chris Beardshaw: “We met Lucy of Studio Clark on
a private client project we were both involved with
and reached out to her to see if she would like to
help on our RHS Chelsea Flower Show project in- We really enjoyed working with Lucy, she got
on board with our vision straight away and helped
with the sourcing and styling of furniture, carpet,
cushions and the delicate porcelain leaves, which
we featured on our Verdigris wall. When we were
asked to design and create The Morgan Stanley
Garden this year, we knew straight away we
wanted to include Lucy as part of our team.”
You’ve worked with Lucy before, what makes
your working partnership so successful?
Anke Summerhill: “One of the reasons of our
successful collaboration with Lucy is the fact that
she is a lovely person and a joy to work with. Lucy
and Gail (Lucy’s contact at Minotti London) work
together extremely well and have a mutual respect.
Lucy has been a longstanding client of Minotti
London and over the years the relationship has
grown into what it is now. Working together
seems effortless. We love Lucy’s projects
and Lucy loves Minotti.”What was it that appealed to you
about taking up a garden design
challenge at the Chelsea Flower Show?
Lucy Clark: “Ever since I was a teenager, I have
been visiting The RHS Chelsea Flower Show with
my family. It was an incredible honour to be asked
by Chris Beardshaw for a second year running to
help style interior elements for his Morgan Stanley
Garden at Chelsea 2019. My response was a
‘no-brainer’ to accept without a moment’s
hesitation. And I love a challenge!”What was your brief and concept for the garden?
Chris: “We asked Lucy to assist with the furnishing
and styling in the two structures that featured in
our garden. The aim of the garden was to create a
contemporary celebration of the traditional English
style plantsman’s garden, whilst ensuring that in
the production of the garden resources were
managed sensitively.
“The project considered how gardeners can create
beautiful plant-rich gardens while moving from
the linear practices of ‘extract, consume, discard’
towards a more sustainable, circular approach,
where materials and products are kept in circulation
as long as possible and waste is minimised and the
garden included several design motifs that subtly
express the move from linear to circular. In terms
of how this relates to the furnishings and furniture
Lucy sourced, she found and steered the creation
of a fabulous rug from the talented Tim Page
Carpets, which was made from recycled plastic and
also helped us collaborate with Tom Faulkner who
makes his stunning tables only 20miles from our
design studio.
“Lucy introduced us to Minotti, a family businessLET’S
GO
OUTSIDE
LUCY CLARK, ANKER SUMMERHILL AND CHRIS BEARDSHAW SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON COLLABORATIVE
DESIGN FOR THE OUTDOORS, ON REFLECTION OF THEIR WORK TOGETHER AT CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW.