Hugo Bugg

In 2031, the National Trust for Scotland will celebrate its 100-year anniversary and, to mark the occasion, it has asked the award-winning Harris Bugg Studio to create a Centenary Garden at one of its most impressive estates. ✨ Newhailes House & Gardens in Musselburgh, five miles east of Edinburgh, will get a new three-acre garden within its historic walled enclosure – formerly the estate's Flower Garden. The new plans will draw on 200-year-old designs, dating back to a time when Newhailes was home to an independent, curious and progressive woman of the Scottish Enlightenment, Miss Christian Dalrymple. After inheriting the house in 1792, she commissioned horticulturist and garden designer John Hay to create a new garden in the early 1800s, and although it was never built, Hay's drawings survived... 🔗 Find out more at the link in our bio 📸 @harrisbuggstudio ✍️ Alice Tuffery #design #gardendesign #designmygarden #designinspiration #plantingdesign #inspiringgardens #gardening #gardens #horticulture #gardensofinstagram #plants #garden #plantinginspiration

RHS Chelsea Gold Medal winner @hugobugg drew on childhood memories of Dorset to create a garden that embraces the landscape in the most magical way. @annasissonsgardens joins him on a garden tour of Little Benville in west Dorset, which will be open as part of the @nationalgardenscheme in May. Read the full article in the April issue of Dorset Magazine, out now. Images: @mariannemajerus #dorset #dorsetgardens #englishgardens #dorsetmagazine

An amazing evening at the Civic Trust Awards last night, where Horatio’s Garden Sheffield & East came away with a hat trick! We were honoured to receive a Civic Trust Award 2026, recognising excellence in the built environment. We also received a Selwyn Goldsmith Universal Design Award, celebrating places that put dignity, choice and independence at the heart of design. And we were incredibly proud to receive the 2026 Special Award for Neuro-Inclusive Places. The judges described it as “an exemplar of inclusive, patient-led design”, “shaped by its users, loved by its volunteers, and rooted in the fabric of Sheffield’s natural and industrial heritage”. They spoke too about the garden as a place that can “restore agency, connection and quality of life”, and commented that “by placing dignity, choice and independence at the heart of the design, the project sets an outstanding benchmark for universal design within healthcare landscapes.” For the Neuro-Inclusive Places Award, they recognised it as “an exceptional example of how spaces can holistically support neurodivergent users without compromising on design excellence” This garden has been shaped by hundreds of people, from the patients and clinical staff who helped guide its development, to those who helped fund it, those who delivered it, and the gardening team who care for it and help it grow. Thank you to the judges and organisers of @civictrustawards for a fantastic night! Garden photography @britt.willoughby.photography

*News!* Planning permission granted for the Barbican Renewal Programme. A serious milestone for an iconic place, and we’re proud to be part of the team. This has been a huge effort led by @alliesandmorrison and The Planning Lab, working closely with @buro_happold @asifkhan.now and ourselves, in ongoing dialogue with the City of London Corporation and consultees including @c20society and @historicengland . We’re leading on the Conservatory planting renewal and long-term curatorial strategy, working closely with Conservatory Head Gardener @martacitygardener and the horticultural team. Planning approval matters, because it enables a full renewal of the Conservatory glass roof, building fabric and operational systems, so the infrastructure properly serves the horticultural work and the living collection can thrive. Over the past 18 months we’ve been deep in the project: heritage and archival research; mapping internal conditions; the first full audit of the planting; and close collaboration with Allies & Morrison and Buro Happold on the architectural, structural and environmental constraints and opportunities. In parallel we’ve researched specialist growers and suppliers and developed planting plans to refine structure and character for this extraordinary eco-Brutalist garden. Peer review and expert advice has been provided by an incredible cohort of heritage and horticultural leaders in their field we have assembled as part of our team to ensure our work is rigorous and considered - @matt.pottage , Christopher Young, Phil Griffiths, @andyhamiltonstudio and modernist landscape history authority @karen_fitzsimon The Conservatory sits within Phase 1 of Barbican Renewal: a conservation-led programme to repair and revitalise the Centre, with major upgrades to accessibility and environmental performance ahead of the Barbican’s 50th anniversary in 2032. When it reopens, it will move from around 30% to fully accessible, and be open every day, so everyone can enjoy this world class Brutalist garden. Visual: @_kincreatives_

Happy New Year everyone! A lovely start to 2026 - @horatiosgarden Sheffield & East designed by @harrisbuggstudio has been further shortlisted as one of just six projects from over 300 entries across the UK for the Selwyn Goldsmith Universal Design Awards. This award celebrates places that have a genuinely people-centred approach, going well beyond minimum standards to create inclusive, dignified, intuitive to use and welcoming places. We are hugely proud to see this work recognised and the overall winner will be announced in March. In addition, the garden has been selected as one of the final 46 winning national and international projects from over 300 applications by the Civic Trust Awards, and will receive either the Civic Trust Award or a Highly Commended at the same ceremony in March. These awards acknowledge projects that make a meaningful difference to their place and community. Thank you to the judging panel @civictrustawards for their time to visit the garden and for their consideration of it. A place like Horatios Garden Sheffield & East only exists because of a huge team of people and these an awards are for everyone involved - those who funded it and continue to support it financially; those involved in designing, building and planting it; and those who look after it and garden it with such care, expertise and energy.

Merry Christmas from all of us at the studio (here shown as our sweet biscuity selves thanks to @thegingerbreadcity ) It’s been a busy year working on residential, commercial and botanic gardens - from Cornwall to the Cotswolds, from the South Bank to Sweden, from the Barbican to North Berwick. We’re grateful to all the clients, design collaborators, contractors, nurseries, plantspeople, fabricators, specialists, craftspeople and makers we have had the privilege to work with in 2025. Thank you for entrusting us with your planting, garden and landscape projects. The studio is closed over the festive period and will reopen on Tuesday 6th January 2026. Here’s to a happy, healthy new year ahead!

Awards news: We are delighted that Horatio’s Garden Sheffield & East, designed by Harris Bugg Studio, has been selected as both a 2026 Civic Trust Awards Regional Finalist and a 2026 Selwyn Goldsmith Universal Design Awards Regional Finalist. The @civictrustawards Awards look for projects that make a meaningful difference to their place and community. Being named a regional finalist tells us the judges see real value in the garden’s design, accessibility and contribution to the hospital and its wider civic setting. The project now goes forward to the national stage, with results announced early next year. The Selwyn Goldsmith Awards focus on design that works for everyone. They recognise places that are welcoming, intuitive to use and support people of all abilities to move through them with dignity. To be considered, a project must be exemplar - go well beyond minimum regulations and show a genuinely people-centred approach. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in March. A place like Horatio’s Garden Sheffield & East only exists because of a huge team and so this is wonderful recognition for every single person involved in this special place. Thank you to those who funded it and continue to support it financially, to everyone involved in designing, building and planting it, and to those who now look after it with such care, expertise and energy. 📷 @britt.willoughby.photography #harrisbuggstudio

(Reclaimed) stairway to heaven. We sourced this incredible stone staircase for our client @helenarvanitakis (seen here testing it out at its current home) for the project we’re working on with her and her family in Dorset - the gardens surrounding their listed watermill. There’s been a lot happening on site over the past few weeks under the careful direction of Sam and the @waterartisans team, including the lining of the natural swimming pool which sits close to the house for an easy jump in for a bracing winter dip or to cool down on a summer’s day. Water Artisans have installed the drainage and pump system to keep water out during construction, then set the recycled plastic corner units that define the swim zone and give it the depth it needs. The base has been prepared with underlay to protect the liner, before lining the pool with HDPE and welding the seams for a secure, watertight finish (Helen taking a close up check!) Natural filtration will come from the wildlife-friendly planting shelves and marginal zones once they are installed, creating rich ecosystems. More to follow as these planting zones take shape.

We’ve just completed the design for this family garden that sits on a steep wooded slope within Dartmoor National Park. Designed in collaboration with award-winning architects Surman Weston, whose new house is set carefully into the hillside responding to the contours, the garden is shaped by the terrain itself with a sequence of spaces that feel natural to its location in an AONB while also supporting family life. The layout follows the land’s contours, using terraces and meadow bands to link the house with the wider valley. To the east, rainwater is held in a seasonal wetland, drawing in birds, frogs and dragonflies as part of a wider ecological strategy. Planting is naturalistic and pollinator-rich, combining indigenous and naturalised species suited to Dartmoor’s evolving conditions. As with much of our work, traditional craft anchors the design, with Devon drystone walls and local materials grounding the garden in its landscape. Fire-resilient principles shape in response to the growing risk of wildfires across the moor. We are working closely with both the architects and the head gardener to ensure the design feels connected, characterful and realistic to tend and care for. Construction to commence in the coming months. Model and visuals @surmanweston Architect @surmanweston Landscape and garden design @harrisbuggstudio Structural engineer @structure.workshop

Our @hugobugg and @samuelrobertcortis have been at Gothenburg Botanic Garden @botaniskatradgarden this week, where we’ve been developing the experiential landscapes within their new botanic glasshouse complex. These will contain a series of distinct climatic zones designed by us at this world-renowned garden. Now in the technical design phase, the focus of this trip was stone so stonemason Ben Martindale @cumbriandickerer with whom we’ve collaborated on a number of projects joined the site visit At Thorsberg Quarry, we tested the red limestone that we have will form sculptural stacks in the Desert and Fire glasshouse, pieces referencing natural rock formations and bringing a sense of geological time into the space. Ben trialled cutting, flaming and chiselling techniques, mocking up forms to explore scale and structure. Also on the trip we reviewed the reclaimed and weathered limestone boulders for the Tropical glasshouse, refining the amphitheatre mock-up and selecting boulders for stepping stones and one to make carved bowls that will display their tiny water ferns. The trip finished at an old gneiss quarry – a potential backup source and a fascinating place in its own right. Ben was in his element. #harrisbuggstudio #landscapedesign #botanicgardendesign

Autumn is one of my favourite times of year, so I really enjoyed sharing my thoughts in this month’s @devonlifemag about what makes the season so special in the garden. Far from being an ending, autumn brings an explosion of texture and movement, with colours deepening into bronzing grasses, dark seedheads and scarlet hips. In this article for Devon Life,  I explore the plants that define this time of year for me, from  grasses and asters to the sculptural forms of hydrangeas, amsonias and seedheads, and how autumn invites us to see the garden with new eyes.  You can read the full piece in the October issue of Devon Life available at most newsagent type shops across Devon #autumngardens #devonlife #harrisbuggstudio #gardendesign #autumnplanting #southwestgardens #devongardens #seasonalgardening

We’re delighted to share that our @hugobugg has been appointed to the board of the Devon Gardens Trust @thedevongardenstrust . Devon is where Hugo grew up, helping his father make a garden from scratch, and where he’s now creating one with his own young family. Devon has shaped much of Hugo’s life and work - one of our three studios also being in Exeter - and joining the Trust feels a natural way to support the care, conservation and future of the county’s remarkable designed landscapes. The Devon Gardens Trust is a charity that promotes and protects Devon’s historic designed landscapes - its parks, gardens and cemeteries - working with owners, managers, gardeners and local authorities to encourage education, support professional gardeners and raise public awareness of these special places. #gardendesign #devongarden #southwestgarden #harrisbuggstudio #ecologicalgarden #conservationgarden