LIVING LABORATORY IN NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM GARDENS

Overhauled for the first time in the museum's 140-year history, the gardens have been divided into different zones with planting and signage that aim to tell the story of life on Earth.

The goal of the project is to boost the biodiversity of the urban landscape and maximise the accessibility of the gardens, all while remaining sensitive to the architecture of the Grade I-listed museum by architect Alfred Waterhouse, explains the team from Feilden Fowles and J&L Gibbons.

The team also aimed to introduce a range of nature-based learning and research facilities, allowing the gardens to be observed by children, scientists and volunteers.

"Respecting the heritage of the museum's iconic Grade I-listed building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse and dubbed a 'cathedral to nature', was a core guiding principle," said architect Edmund Fowles.

"Waterhouse's famous facade boasts intricate decoration of flora and fauna, with extinct species on the east wing and extant, or surviving, nature on the west," he continued. "This idea is beautifully reflected through the design of the gardens."

The studios' design forms part of the Natural History Museum's Urban Nature Project, which is focused on protecting nature in urban areas that are becoming increasingly threatened by climate change and urbanisation.

The different areas carved out within the landscape are the Evolution Garden, the Nature Activity Centre, the Nature Discovery Garden and the Garden Kitchen.

Completing the gardens are decorative brass inlays in the pathways and bronze letters quoting natural historian David Attenborough. Benches that evoke different geological eras are also dotted throughout the landscape, formed of materials including chalk and flint, alongside a life-size bronze cast of a dinosaur skeleton called Fern.

"We designed this space to provide accessible opportunities for everyone of all ages to engage with the rich diversity of flora and fauna in the water, to participate in learning activities such as pond dipping and to be immersed in the wetland habitats which is a rare opportunity in a central London location," explains J&L Gibbons partner Neil Davidson.

Less visible features of the garden include "an underground web of scientific monitoring points" for the museum's scientists to observe the landscape and understand how nature is changing in urban areas.

"The network of sensors that have been sensitively incorporated into the design will gather audio and environmental data from across the gardens," added Davidson. "This data will help the museum's scientists to understand and support UK urban nature recovery."

To reduce the carbon footprint of the project, locally sourced materials have been used where possible. Passive design principles help cool and warm the buildings in tandem with air-source heat pumps.

CLIENT Natural History Museum
ARCHITECTS Feilden Fowles and J&L Gibbons 
LOCATION London, England
PHOTOGRAPHY Kendal Noctor and Jim Stephenson