Gold at Hampton Court completes hat-trick of National Awards for School of Design

A garden designed and exhibited by students from University College Falmouth's (UCF's) BA(Hons) Garden Design course has been awarded a much-coveted Royal Horticulture Society (RHS) Gold medal at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show within the Conceptual Gardens category.

The garden, A Fable for Tomorrow serves a cautionary tale that highlights the plight of native plants and was designed by second year students Sue Radmore, Elektra Sanders and Scarlet Wheaton with support from Course Leader, Richard Sneesby, lecturer Matt James and kind sponsorship by Ian Sayer & Co, construction consultants and Ethos Construction Solutions Ltd.

The garden design champions how seed banks act as modern day Noah's Arks for plants, assisting in saving native flora from extinction and preserving biodiversity.  An old, tall and circular Cornish seed bank has been split in two with the halves held back by copper core walls to reveal the treasures stored within.  The central walkway is lined by banks of seeds, some of which have spilled out to germinate around pools that reflect light from the copper.

The Cornish sand dunes are also celebrated as the garden is colonised by wild flowers in a mass of colour reminiscent of the fragile, coastal dune ecosystems found in the County.  As there are no fences or walls to mark the boundaries of the plot these are felt through the change of terrain from turf to sand underfoot.

Phil Clayton, features editor and Chris Young, deputy editor of The Garden, a RHS journal, stated that the entry had "A strong design and message" adding that; "The fragility of nature is very apparent in this garden. With its mostly maritime planting of thrift and other seaside plants, this garden is a lesson in ecology more than anything else."

The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show runs from 6 to 11 July in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace, London. Organised by the RHS it champions artistic inspiration and horticultural.  As the largest flower show in the world winning entry to the Show is an achievement in itself with competition open to all garden and landscape designers all over the world.  From 25 entries to exhibit within the Conceptual Gardens category only 6 were given the privilege of showing.

Richard Sneesby, Course Leader commented: "It's a great success and was achieved through a very close collaboration between students and staff.  Gold medals are only awarded to the very best gardens and as a rule student gardens don't win them so we are delighted with the result. We have already received great praise from the garden design industry, the media and the public who regard it as testament to the uniqueness of Falmouth's course nationally and internationally."

This success rounds off a week in which courses within the School of Design at UCF have won some of the country's most prestigious prizes in Design. Graphic Design students scooped five major Design & Art Direction (D&AD) awards; the prestigious Best Stand in Show, a Best New Blood at the D&AD's New Blood 2010 exhibition; and a First Prize and Second Prize Yellow Pencil and a Commendation at the D&AD Global Student Awards.  A further commendation went to work from BA(Hons) 3D Design. Lucy Foakes, BA(Hons) Contemporary Crafts was also awarded the prestigious accolade of Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year from around 1700 new graduates, winning £5500 worth of prizes.

Further information regarding the garden can be found at A-Fable-for-Tomorrow 

BBC 2 will include Falmouth's BA(Hons) Garden Design students and the Gold medal winning garden on Friday 9 July between 20.00 and 21.00 as part of their Hampton Court Palace Flower Show coverage.

Through the government's Modernisation Fund University College Falmouth is also delighted to announce that we are able to offer an additional 100 full time degree places for entry in Autumn 2010.  If you are interested in applying for one of these places for the coming academic year, please contact Admissions on 01326 213730 or admissions@falmouth.ac.uk

For further information about Design Courses at University College Falmouth, visit http://www.falmouth.ac.uk/,  email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 211077.

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name.  It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be unique to the South West.

The University College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

Ends

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby Dip CIPR MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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