The Garden Museum and the Garden Museum Cafe are a welcome addition to an area of London that is slow to change. The food at the cafe is modern and seasonal, and the space is beautiful and looks out into a small garden by Dan Pearson. Christopher Woodward, the museum director, is active in improving and campaigning for local green spaces and creating space for the local community.
The Museum lives inside an old 18th-century church and has a changing program of exhibits. Worth noting, it is a museum on the subject of gardening, not of gardens, so don’t expect many flower beds. Throughout the summer holidays, the Museum has lots of great events for kids, including cooking and drawing. Luke and I also designed the identity for the museum… the tote bags and visitor badges are particularly nice.
Not long in the custody of the National Trust, designed by Philip Webb and commissioned by William Morris, in 1859. Tucked away in Beckenham. William and Jane Morris only lived here for five years; not a happy time of their marriage. But there is humility, authority and even bite, in the domestic scale. The rigorous, holistic design-hand at work belies any sense of souvenir shop Morris-lite. The vegetable garden in late Summer is the place to be.
Tate Modern can always be relied on for offering up interesting, challenging exhibits, housed in great architecture and with one of Londons best cultural bookstores. An ever reliable weekend hangout.
Always interesting exhibitions and a nice little shop selling magazines, prints and books.. Small and simple gallery, surrounded by Hyde Park's beautiful elegant landscape.