STARS COME OUT FOR ‘THE SKY AT NIGHT
29th May 2008 - Medite Exterior
Last week, Queen guitarist and experienced amateur astronomer Brian May joined legendary night sky expert Sir Patrick Moore to open architect Barry Mayled's latest garden creation at this year's prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. “The Sky at Night” provides heavenly inspiration on how to turn a ‘waste-of-space' flat rooftop into a garden and mini-observatory.
South Wales architect Barry created an attractive and functional rooftop garden which can also be enjoyed after dark, with particular appeal to amateur astronomers. “The Sky at Night” garden comes complete with sliding roof and powerful optical telescope, 'galaxies' of flower beds, rocket-shaped conifers and twinkling stars created by thousands of pounds worth of computer-controlled lighting set into a plant-covered wall.
The garden was awarded a Gold Medal in the Urban Garden category, and was Barry's fifth award from Chelsea. Materials play an exceptionally important part in Barry's landscape architecture designs and this year's creation featured FSC certified Medite Exterior - an MDF panel developed specifically for use in most external applications* as part of Medite's unique range of MDF products. Already used by Barry in two previous medalwinning Chelsea gardens, for a third time Medite Exterior gave Barry the design freedom of quality MDF with the confidence of superior outdoor performance which was essential in the realisation of his design. He said, “There are an estimated 20,000 hectares of flat roofs in the UK, however green roofs are still a novelty, but they can offer a haven of peace and relaxation away from the hustle and bustle. While serious star-gazers might head for the hills, there is still plenty to see on many nights in an urban area with an inexpensive telescope and some basic knowledge of the heavens. Medite Exterior was my only choice for key elements of this design and it's an excellent and essential material for any garden designers' palette.”
Sir Patrick Moore was impressed how “even a comparatively small area can be transformed into an amateur astronomer's lair”, and Geoff Rhodes, marketing and business development director for Medite's parent company, Coillte Panel Products,
said “The Chelsea Flower Show has long been a leading event in the British social calendar, and once again the performance of our Exterior MDF is being showcased in the shop window of the latest and best in the world of horticulture and landscape
architecture. Working with Barry is very important for us and his design is a real show stopper.”
9mm and 18mm Medite Exterior was supplied and some panels were machined in order to create a high quality bendable material. Medite Exterior was used throughout the
garden design including the planters, cocktail cabinet, flooring and the circular “moon” window.
Every year the Royal Horticultural Society challenges designers and gardeners from around the globe to develop new ideas to enhance our surroundings, help the environment and increase our enjoyment of the natural world. The show, in the grounds of London's Royal Hospital, ran from 20-24 May. Over 160,000 visitors saw 600 exhibits and trade stands, including 40 gardens and 100 floral displays.
Notes to editor
* in accordance with MDF-H2 as defined in EN 622 part 5
Medite Exterior
Medite Exterior MDF can be used as a substitute for softwood, hardwood, plywood, plastic and metal in non-stressed applications for a wide range of external applications including: external signs, shop fronts, external woodwork (including fascias), exterior mouldings, door parts - raised and fielded panels, garden design and garden furniture components, exterior display stands, marine craft interiors and sports score boards.
Architect and Gold Medal winner Barry Mayled
Coillte Panel Products
Coillte has an international reputation for its consultancy on all aspects of forestry, providing forestry expertise to government agencies and NGOs in over 25 countries worldwide as well as to private companies, the World Bank and the EU.
Coillte Panel Products has brought together two leading European panel products operations – SmartPly OSB and Medite MDF. With turnover standing at in excess of €175,000,000, the Irish-based company has now become a significant and powerful player in Europe's composite board marketplace.
Both Medite and SmartPly are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified differentiating them from many competitor and substitute products, and enabling them to meet environmental standards which are becoming increasingly important to designers, specifiers, architects and clients for both public and private projects.
For further press information, contact:
Lucy Kamall
Character Communications
Tel: +44 (0)1376 537087
Mob: +44 (0)7876 737569
Email: lucy@charactercomms.com
