Waste to Wildlife Garden
The Waste to Wildlife Garden uses recycled building materials to provide a mini oasis where wildlife can flourish.
Located near the entrances to Guy’s Hospital and Guy’s Cancer Centre, and by teaching labs at King’s College London, the Garden highlights the ways in which green spaces can offer health and wellbeing benefits, providing a colourful, plant-filled corridor which was previously stark, bare and covered with stone.
The Waste to Wildlife, officially unveiled in September 2023, was made possible through partnership working by Cityscapes, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Keltbray, King’s College London and Team London Bridge.
Funding was secured across the partners, including Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity.
The project partners and local community are committed to providing a sustainable future for the area and have been increasing the green infrastructure in and around the London Bridge area to improve health, wellbeing and biodiversity.
About the garden
The essence of the Waste to Wildlife Garden embodies the Guy’s and St Thomas’ greenspace and biodiversity plan, part of the Trust’s Sustainability strategy. It also aligns with London Bridge Net Zero Routemap and Green Infrastructure Action Plan led by Team London Bridge, and with King’s biodiversity action plan.
The Garden contributes to a flourishing green tapestry across the area and is one of many green spaces to be found in and around the campus, although this is a rare bare spot.
The prominent location provides patients, visitors, students and staff at Guy’s Hospital, Guy’s Cancer Centre and King’s College London with a connection to nature and moment of respite.
The design
The design draws inspiration from brownfield urban ecologies and natural plant communities from chalk grassland and arid habitats.
The pink, red and orange colours are consistent with other Cityscapes projects in the London Bridge area, including the Putting Down Roots Gardens in Guy’s Memorial Garden and London Bridge City, as well as the nearby Greenwood Theatre.
The uplifting colours draw attention to the garden indicating to passers by that the wild looking mix of plants and rubble are a conscious construction and not a product of neglect. The colours provide a sense of coherence, aiding wayfinding and making the area feel cared for and safer.
The hard landscaping provides different habitats for a wide range of invertebrates and small creatures. The recycled stone encourages rethinking how we use materials from construction and puts focus on the cycle of resources. All of the reused building materials that would otherwise have gone to landfill are sourced from a 5km radius of the garden site and were provided by Keltbray.
The planting
The carefully selected drought tolerant planting features wildflowers and introduced species suited to the crushed concrete and recycled sand planting mediums. Drawing inspiration from plant communities in their natural habitats they form a sustainable ecosystem. Consideration has been given to plants that provide resources for a wide range of insects across their lifecycles.
With initial liberal watering to help establish the plants during their first growing season, the garden requires little water to thrive, maximising the use of rainwater.
A full planting list can be found here.
The name
The Garden’s name was voted by staff from each partner organisation, with ‘Waste to Wildlife’ the worthy winner.
You can find more green spaces to explore in the London Bridge area in this walking trail.
For more information visit:
· www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/about-us/sustainability