The Science of Sustenance

The garden

A stainless-steel culinary workspace is surrounded by layered planting – lush trailing vines, living moss walls, micro-herbs, salad greens and fruiting plants, all thriving under integrated LED grow lights. Suspended from a timber pergola-like frame, dramatic hanging gardens frame the view inward, evoking the spirit of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.  

At the heart of the space, a mature citrus tree rises from a central island, blending hospitality and horticulture. The design balances experimental precision with warmth and abundance, inviting visitors to rethink the role of plants indoors, not just decorative, but productive, edible and deeply integrated into daily life. 

This garden is designed for the curious home grower – someone interested in sustainable living, culinary experimentation and the intersection of science and nature. It also speaks to urban dwellers seeking new ways to cultivate food within limited or unconventional spaces. 

The setting is a domestic interior or semi-sheltered structure in Central London, such as a converted outbuilding, rooftop pavilion or modern extension, blurring the boundary between kitchen, garden and laboratory. Its modular design could adapt to urban homes, community hubs or educational environments. 

The concept draws inspiration from scientific laboratories, commercial kitchens and high-tech vertical farms. These controlled, functional spaces have been re-imagined with warmth and beauty, celebrating the aesthetics of experimentation and precision while making space for nature to thrive indoors. 

The designers want Festival visitors to take away that food growing can be beautiful, atmospheric and seamlessly integrated into everyday life, even indoors. Edible plants can be just as ornamental, expressive, and spatially transformative as traditional houseplants, while offering something nourishing in return. 

The design promotes indoor food growing as a sustainable, accessible response to climate pressures, supply chain fragility and urban living. It highlights the potential of controlled environment agriculture using thoughtful lighting and structure (e.g., grow lights and modular frames) at a personal scale, empowering people to grow food indoors, year round. 

The garden features the following current or upcoming gardening trends: 

• Micro-greens and nutrient-rich salad varieties. LED grow lighting – energy-efficient and spectrally optimised for plant growth
• Modular, self-watering systems for consistent, low-maintenance cultivation
• A shift toward multifunctional, hybrid spaces that merge growing, cooking, and socialising

The planting

Indoor plants aren’t limited to decorative foliage. Edible species like herbs, salads and fruiting plants have equal aesthetic power. The layering of plants, at floor-level, mid-level and hanging, creates an immersive environment. 

The central citrus tree is a standout specimen. Grown from seed indoors in the UK, it has been nurtured for over a decade using an AutoPot system and a combination of HPS and, more recently, LED grow lighting. Now nearly 2 metres tall, it fruits heavily each year, demonstrating the long term potential of indoor cultivation with the right tools and care. 

Sustainability

After the show, many elements of the exhibit will take on a new life as part of CANNA’s upcoming podcast studio, currently under construction inside a repurposed shipping container.  

They’re reusing key components of the kitchen and growing systems, including lighting, work surfaces, and cultivation equipment, to create a vibrant, plant rich recording space that continues the spirit of the garden: experimental, inviting and rooted in growth. The plants themselves will return to their original homes, carefully nurtured by the growers who raised them, where they’ll continue to thrive until next season. 

The exhibit promotes environmental responsibility by showcasing how food can be grown efficiently, beautifully, and sustainably indoors, using minimal space and resources. By integrating edible plants into a living interior, it encourages a shift away from purely ornamental gardening toward functional, resilient growing that supports everyday life. 

Certain edibles cannot be grown under typical indoor conditions, additional lighting, feeding systems and fertilisers are used to maintain healthy growth and ensure year round productivity. The citrus tree has been grown with an AutoPot system. The micro-greens, salads and fruiting plants will be watered via a drip-irrigation system. 

The designer – CANNA

CANNA have always believed that growing is more than a science, it’s a relationship. The company’s roots are in professional horticulture, but they’re inspired by the creativity, care and curiosity of growers everywhere. CANNA works to empower people to grow better, with precision, respect for the plant and joy in the process. Their garden design style reflects that: bold yet thoughtful, technically refined yet emotionally rich. CANNA combines clean systems thinking with natural abundance, balancing control with creativity. 

CANNA has been deeply involved in horticulture for over 30 years, built on research, grower collaboration and hands on cultivation. This is their first ever show garden, a chance to bring our legacy to a wider audience of urban growers, food innovators and anyone passionate about sustainable, high quality growing. 

CANNA says, “Designing a garden at the show is an opportunity to reframe what gardening means. We want to challenge expectations and inspire visitors with a different vision, one where plants aren’t just background, but participants in a living, working space. We got involved this year to start new conversations around food, sustainability and the future of growing. It’s a chance to show that technical excellence and beauty can go hand in hand.”