Sophie Walker
Based in UK, Sophie makes gardens internationally. Her expansive design for the De Pont Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands, opened in September 2017 in celebration of the museum’s 25 year anniversary. In Haywards Heath, UK, Sophie redesigned an area of Borde Hill Gardens, opened to the public in 2018. Also in 2018, Sophie designed a public garden commissioned for Ulsan Park, Korea. In London, Sophie’s projects include an NHS therapy garden for patients of Grove Park Practice in Chiswick, and worked in collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects and Anish Kapoor as one of ten shortlisted teams for a UK government commission for a new national Holocaust Memorial on the River Thames besides the Houses of Parliament. She has received a commission to design a public memorial garden in memory of the great human rights activist Helen Bamber. Private UK-based projects include residential gardens in and around London including a rooftop site in central London and a large scale design on the Sussex coast. Sophie’s enthusiasm for travel has led her to projects as far afield as Japan, India and Sri Lanka and Bahamas. In India, Sophie is currently working on two inner city projects both of which hold sustainability at their heart.
After initially studying art history, Sophie returned to her studies to qualify in horticulture, plant science and later, garden design. In 2014 Sophie became the youngest woman to design a garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show with Cave Pavilion, sponsored by the Garden Museum, London.
Sophie enjoys working with rare and unusual plants. For her garden Cave Pavilion, at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Sophie worked with modern-day plant hunters Sue and Bleddyn Wynn-Jones to produce a 'fully-traceable' garden of previously unexhibited plants that had been grown entirely from seed collected in the wild. Her interest in plants and conservation has extended to her private projects and she has recently completed an eight year project working in the Bahamas in collaboration with the Bahamian National Trust to restore a private garden with native habitat.
Sophie's acclaimed book, The Japanese Garden, was published by Phaidon in October 2017. In her writing, Sophie offers fresh insight on the conceptual and philosophical ambition of the Japanese garden and its abstract nature. This comprehensive publication features 92 of Japan's finest gardens, ranging from historic shrine gardens to contemporary urban designs.
For her gardens, Sophie has previously won the People's Choice Award at RHS Hampton Court Palace for her A Valley Garden as well as a RHS Silver-Gilt Medal Show Garden and an RHS Chelsea Flower Show Silver Medal for Cave Pavilion.
Aside from the designing and making of gardens, Sophie also lectures on conceptual garden design and on the Japanese garden. A qualified horticulturalist, Sophie advises on planting, maintenance and the garden environment.