Halmann Vella assists in the construction of award winning garden at the Chelsea Flower Show
Halmann Vella was the main supplier of natural stone and assisted in the construction of the M&G Garden, one of the main gardens at this year’s edition of the Chelsea Flower Show. The garden, which was designed by James Basson, director of Scape Design, was awarded a Gold Medal as well as the prestigious award for Best Show Garden and Best Construction.
The garden was modelled on the Maltese landscape, particularly a disused Maltese quarry and utilised Maltese stone as well as a number of plants which are endemic to Malta. Like many countries, Malta is facing a number of environmental challenges such as scarcity of water, minimal resources, extreme heat, composting and waste disposal. The garden illustrates these challenges and is also a message that we need to take action to preserve the fragile environment of our planet.
The garden took a whole year of planning and production. The stone was quarried in Malta and Gozo and eventually fabricated in Halmann Vella’s stone processing facility in Hal Far. During this process, both James Basson and Mark Fane, from the main contracting company Crocus, visited the company’s premises a number of times to supervise the process. Once finished the materials were packed and shipped to London, where a team of 8 Halmann Vella employees, lead by Contracts Manager Josef Zammit and Hugh Vella, Director of Operations at Halmann Vella, installed and finished the stone on site.
“I came to Malta expecting to find a laid back attitude. It is the Mediterranean after all. Instead, I was stunned by the industriousness, creativity and drive of the Maltese. It’s been an extraordinary venture with extraordinary people. Thanks to the technology available at Halmann Vella we could produce a fine piece of artistry which is a true award winner.” stated James Basson.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the most popular flower show around the world, with over 150,000 visitors per year, including members of the royal family, including the Queen of England. The event is also extensively broadcast on the BBC.