How a Small Shed at Chelsea Is Inspiring Big Ideas at RISE

Nature’s Quiet Genius

This year at the Chelsea Flower Show, we were captivated by the Intelligent Garden pavilion designed by Studio Weave, with landscape designer Tom Massey and furniture maker Sebastian Cox. Their careful craft and material curiosity sparked ideas that continue to shape our own sustainable design thinking.

The pavilion reminded us that architecture doesn’t need to shout. Sometimes it hums - adapting, listening, rooting itself quietly into place. That’s a lesson we carry home to London and Barcelona: spaces should respond to nature, not compete with it.

Waste → Wonder

Clad in fluted mycelium and local ash, this mycelium pavilion turned what many see as waste into something alive with possibility. A fungal skin and timber offcuts became a crafted facade that felt grown, not made.

At RISE, this resonates deeply. Sustainability is not a bolt-on for us - it’s the core of every design conversation. We salvage bricks, repurpose old timbers, reveal a building’s past life instead of erasing it. The mycelium facade reminded us: true low-carbon architecture listens to the quiet genius beneath our feet.

A New Kind of Shed

At first glance, it was just a garden shed. But step closer, and it was a living lab for ideas that cities like London and Barcelona will need. The structure used technology to monitor urban trees, quietly pairing artificial intelligence with the natural intelligence of a fungal network.

For us, it raises exciting questions: how might a small garden studio in a back garden carry this spirit? How can an urban extension become a small ecosystem that grows, adapts and gives back?

Local, Low-Impact, High-Value

We loved how ash trees affected by dieback - usually burned as waste - found new life bracing the roof or woven into opening screens. It’s a beautiful reminder that circular thinking can create crafted, elegant details.

At RISE, we believe materials should tell a story, not just fill a spec sheet. Using local timber, reclaimed brick or mycelium panels grounds a project in place and time. It reduces waste, cuts carbon and connects people with the layers of care that go into every wall, screen or courtyard.

What We’re Taking Forward

☉ Sheds can be sanctuaries.
☉ Waste can be wonder.
☉ Nature has the best blueprint.
☉ Technology should serve nature, not silence it.

Like this small mycelium pavilion, our work at RISE aims to create buildings that tread lightly yet speak clearly - homes and studios that breathe, adapt, and invite nature in. From retrofits in North London to courtyard homes by the coast, the ambition is the same: build less, build better. Use less, give more.

Photography by Daniel Herendi

Designing for Tomorrow

Sustainability is not an add-on for us - it’s the ground we stand on. Like the hidden mycelium beneath a forest, invisible threads bind our projects to people, places and futures we may never see.

☉ Credit to Studio Weave, Tom Massey and Sebastian Cox for reminding us that sometimes the smallest structures ask the biggest questions.

Considering a project rooted in low-carbon design and purposeful living?
Let’s build something ready for tomorrow.

→ architects@risedesignstudio.co.uk
→ 020 3947 5886

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