RHS Bridgewater, Yangzhou Scholars’ Garden

2026

Client
RHS Bridgewater

Location
Salford, Greater Manchester

Collaborators/Creative partners
3D design: Simon Leach Design
Fabrication and installation: Standard8
Stone contractor: Maysand

Photography
David Sudlow Designers, RHS

Context

The Yangzhou Scholars’ Garden is the centrepiece of what is Europe’s largest authentic classical Chinese garden. It combines orthodox architectural design with traditional craft and cultural traditions, inspired by the historic gardens of eastern China’s Jiangsu province. It was meticulously constructed by artisans from China alongside horticulturalists at RHS Bridgewater, in collaboration with the China Flower Association and Yangzhou City. We were invited to create garden signage and interpretation for the Scholar’s Garden and surrounding seven-acre Streamside Garden.

Design

The garden layout is a series of different planting themes and patterns leading visitors to the Scholar’s Garden at the centre. The size, form, proportion, colour and materiality of the sign designs is in direct dialogue to the foundational elements of the garden design. Structural posts for signs through the Streamside Garden are in English oak shaped to reflect details in the pavilion architecture. Signs at the entrance to the Scholar’s Garden feature tall slender oak posts set into stone, referencing the importance of bamboo in Chinese gardens and bringing height to the design. All information is in dual Chinese and English language.

Type: Interpretation and signage
Size: 7 acres
Project duration: 6 months