The House of St Barnabas is a charity for homeless people, based in a beautiful Georgian house. The garden, one of only two in Soho, was tired, dull and in need of attention. As a contribution to the charity we redesigned the garden as a flexible space to complement the splendid interior.
The historic site includes Charles Dickens’ imagined setting for Dr Manette and Lucie, who sat in the garden “under the plane trees’. Today the trees cast the garden into shade, strongly influencing the new design.
The garden is a vital asset to the charity which hires out the venue to raise income. It will also play a role as a therapeutic space for participants on life skills programmes, creating opportunities for them to learn the disciplines of work through regular maintenance tasks.
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