At this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, Range Rover, which takes up its new title of headline sponsor, has created one of Main Avenue’s most design-led installations, using the world’s most prestigious flower show to preview the Range Rover Electric ahead of its official presentation later this year.
Structure and landscape
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Designed by landscape architect Alexandra Noble, The Range Rover Cloister draws on cloistered architecture, framing the vehicle within a square sanctuary of 16 3-metre Carpinus betulus (hornbeam) columns, reflective pools and planting. There’s also a bespoke stained timber backdrop and stone-mallet pathway which add further architectural structure to the installation, as well as interesting offering a mix of landscape design, spatial installation and an automotive showcase.
Set against a soft palette of whites, creams, lilacs and purples, the Belgravia Green finish of the car informs the wider planting scheme throughout the space with sark-stemmed Anthriscus ‘Ravenswing’, valerian, Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’ (bronze fennel) and aromatic Artemisia which all come together to soften the harder geometry of the garden; this is studded with two 6 metre Amelanchier trees for more height.
Noble, whose work favours more naturalistic and immersive planting, approached the project as more than a conventional Chelsea show garden. “People come to Chelsea to see planting and excellence in design,” she says. “It felt brilliant to showcase that and Range Rover in that setting.”
The installation also highlights the wider direction of luxury automotive design, where atmosphere and sensory experience increasingly sit alongside engineering and performance. Pollinator-friendly planting offers movement and biodiversity into the garden, and along with the reflective water features, soften the more architectural elements surrounding the vehicle.
A softer approach to EV design
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Previewed publicly in launch specification for the first time, the impending Range Rover Electric remains visually restrained – almost hidden – within the landscape, staying close to the existing Range Rover line-up. Subtle details including a flush grille and EV wheel centre caps are among the few exterior signals of its electric powertrain, and its presence at Chelsea comes at a moment when luxury car brands are placing greater emphasis on design culture, materiality and environmental thinking as electrification shakes up the sector.
Life after Chelsea
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When the show comes to a close the installation, which has been designed with a longer future in mind, will reposition itself to St Cecilia’s Care Home in Bromley through Leonard Cheshire, allowing the garden to live on, and where residents will continue to enjoy and immerse themselves in the space.
Quick Summary – Range Rover
- 📍 Location: RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London
- ✨ Concept: A cloister-inspired installation centred around the forthcoming Range Rover Electric
- 🌿 Planting: Hornbeam columns, bronze fennel, Artemisia and pollinator-friendly species
- 🚘 Highlight: First public preview of the Range Rover Electric in launch specification
- 🪞 Design Details: Reflective pools, stone-mallet pathways and a bespoke timber backdrop
- 🌍 Sustainability: The installation will relocate to St Cecilia’s Care Home after Chelsea
