- New Balance has opened its first employee garden in its Cumbria facility, which produces the American sportswear brand’s ‘Made in the UK’ line
- The garden was designed by British men’s jewellery brand Bleue Burnham, which is known for exploring the connection between humans and nature in its collections
- The garden is designed to create an environment where employees can take respite from the production floor and is fitted with dedicated seating areas and communal gathering spaces
New Balance and Bleue Burnham have teamed up for an unexpected collaboration; not a sneaker or accessories line, but a garden for the American sportswear brand’s employees at its Cumbria factory, which has produced its ‘Made in the UK’ line for over three decades.
Located in Flimby, Cumbria, The Flimby Garden was conceived as a restorative space for the factory’s employees, who are responsible for hand-producing around 30,000 pairs of sneakers a month. Marking Bleue Burnham’s first landscaping project, The Flimby Garden incorporates spaces for solitude and for gathering, with picnic benches places within larger flower beds for communal moments and smaller benches dotted around the garden for alone time.
Bleue Wickham-Burnham founded his eponymous jewellery brand in London in 2018, with the brand quickly becoming known for its exploration of the connection between humans and nature. The Flimby Garden marks the London-based brand’s first landscaping project, with the outdoor space similarly shaped by the connection between people and nature. The garden draws upon the surrounding Lake District, with undulating flower beds, wildflowers, manmade ponds, and cherry trees (some of which grow through the aforementioned picnic benches, providing a playful alternative to a traditional umbrella). The plantings themselves draw from designer Wickham-Burnham’s favourite approaches to horicultural design; the New Perennial movement and the British cottage garden. Perennial block plantings are interwoven with cottage garden varieties like lilies, roses, hollyhocks, and foxgloves, resulting in a juxtaposition of wildness and refinement. The periphery of the garden is lined with wildflowers, with daffodils set to emerge come springtime. Throughout the garden, the plantings have been designed to flower in succession across spring, summer, and autumn, with the garden set to unfold in seasonal moments throughout the year.
“At New Balance, craftsmanship starts with people. The Flimby factory has been home to generations of skilled makers, and we wanted to create something meaningful for the employees who continue that legacy every day,” explained Dan Holtby, director of UK manufacturing and operation at New Balance. “This garden is a celebration of their contribution and a space designed for their wellbeing, enjoyment and connection to the natural environment that surrounds the factory.”
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created together,” shared Wickham-Burnham of the project. “I look forward to watching the garden grow and mature over the coming years and becoming an established part of daily life for the New Balance team at Flimby.”
The garden will remain a space for employees only, providing them with a space for respite away from the production line.
Words by Henry Blake
