The Women in Construction Garden
Join the All-Women Team
Making History at RHS Chelsea Flower Show
The Women in Construction Garden
Join the All-Women Team
Making History at RHS Chelsea Flower Show
The Project
The First All-Women Designed and Constructed Show Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show
The Chelsea Flower Show has been a global stage for creativity and design for over a century. Yet one milestone has never been reached: a show garden entirely designed and constructed by women.
The Women in Construction Garden will set that precedent. Led by Karen Tatlow, created by female specialists in design, architecture, engineering, and landscaping, it celebrates women’s skill and ingenuity across the construction industries.
It is a statement of ability, equality, and progress, using one of the world’s most recognisable platforms to highlight and celebrate the women shaping how we build.
About Karen
Award winning garden designer with a proven track record at RHS shows
Karen is an award-winning garden designer with a proven track record on the RHS show garden circuit, including two successful charity show gardens.
In 2019, she designed a garden for Diabetes UK at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival, winning a Silver-Gilt Medal, the Best Construction Award, and the People’s Choice Award.
In 2022, a commission for Cancer Research UK repeated this success with another Silver-Gilt, Best Construction, and People’s Choice. Most recently, Karen Tatlow Garden Design was named Pro Landscaper’s 2025 Best Garden Design Company (turnover under £250k). Her work focuses on bespoke, highly personal garden designs that reflect how people really live.
She combines a commercial background in the corporate world with an intuitive, detail-led approach to create spaces that feel calm, elegant, and rooted in their setting.
The Why
Women remain underrepresented across construction and manufacturing, but their contribution is essential. This project is designed to inspire the next generation and shine a light on the excellence already within the industry.
WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION STATS (*Women in Construction Hub https://wichub.co.uk)
%
Women in Construction
%
Women on the Tools
%
Average Gender Pay Gap
The Concept
The concept centres on a pavilion built by women for women, challenging gender norms at Chelsea. Picture an elevated, tranquil nook within a densely planted garden, offering calm and clean air.
It responds to real challenges women and girls face, like disproportionate exposure to urban air pollution on school runs and unequal access to green space. The idea celebrates undervalued skills such as craft and making, links care work to climate action, and inspires young women into STEM.
The pavilion would use materials that passively scrub pollutants like NO₂, sequester carbon, and support biodiversity. Renewable, low-carbon choices keep upkeep minimal while demonstrating regenerative design.
Visually, it will draw on soft organic forms through repetition and pattern, creating a “breathing” structure in a forest-like setting. These are early concepts, not final designs.
Who's Involved
This pioneering garden brings together a cross-disciplinary team of experts, including architects, structural engineers, landscape designers, and builders, all working collaboratively to deliver excellence.
Each partner reflects a shared belief in innovation, inclusion, and opportunity. Every contribution, from creative concept to material supply, plays a role in building both the space and the message it represents.
The Cabinet Office
Useful Studio
Useful Studio brings award-winning architectural and strategic design expertise to the team, led by founding director and co-designer Catherine Ramsden. Catherine’s experience in thoughtful, low-carbon, socially driven projects ensures the pavilion concept is both ambitious and responsibly conceived.
Thea Pitcher
Dip Hort (Kew) MCI Hort
Dip Hort (Kew) MCI Hort
Mark Gregory
As a collaborator and adviser, RHS Ambassador for Construction and Landscaping, and RHS Show Garden judge, Mark Gregory offers unmatched Chelsea expertise, having delivered more than 100 show gardens through his company Landform. His guidance strengthens buildability, logistics, and on-site delivery for this first-time team.
Liquid
Liquid is a independent global communications agency at the forefront of industries that shape our everyday lives, including food, agriculture, lifestyle, corporate solutions, retail, and sustainability. Through bold ideas and measurable impact, we craft stories that connect, inspire, and drive real-world results.
Lynne Ingham
BA Hons ACII CMIRM
Working in a voluntary capacity, Lynne Ingham is a key organiser and support to the project lead, providing coordination, logistics, and day-to-day problem-solving. Her role helps keep momentum, detail, and people management running smoothly throughout the journey.
Xylotek
Why Join Us?
Supporting the Women in Construction Garden connects your brand to a global audience and a message that matters.
RHS Chelsea attracts millions of viewers worldwide, with significant coverage across print, broadcast, and digital media. Sponsors benefit from association with excellence, innovation, and social impact, recognised by industry leaders and the wider public alike.
Your involvement shows a clear commitment to equality, sustainability, and creativity. It is a visible act of corporate responsibility and an opportunity for genuine connection, hospitality, and authentic brand storytelling.
What’s in It for You?
Global Reach
Exposure through international media, with content seen by millions.
High-Value Audience
The show’s visitors are among the UK’s most affluent and influential demographics.
Exclusive Experience
PR, networking, and hospitality opportunities at the show.
The Ask
Your support can take many forms, including financial sponsorship, resources, materials, or professional expertise.
A headline sponsor is sought to help deliver the garden, along with partners who can provide specialist services and sustainable materials. The total funding target is £250,000 to £300,000. After the show, garden elements will be relocated or repurposed to benefit public or educational spaces, extending your organisation’s impact far beyond the event.
Join an initiative that celebrates excellence and drives real change in construction, landscaping, and design.