Chelsea Flower Show

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is one of the most prestigious events in the UK calendar, attracting over 168,000 visitors to the historic grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

As the RHS’s biggest annual fundraiser, the event brings together world-class garden design, global exhibitors, and premium hospitality, all delivered with careful respect for its heritage setting.

We’ve proudly partnered with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) for over 26 years to deliver the venues that bring this iconic show to life.

A Unique Challenge at a Historic Site

Sarah Jerrold, Senior Project Manager at the RHS, explains the importance of getting it right:

“The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and we have this beautiful historic venue that we need to look after. It’s a real challenge, and it’s really important that we deliver it perfectly.”

Our role includes building two major venues each year: The Great Pavilion, the centrepiece of the show, and the Ranelagh Restaurant, a premium double-decker hospitality space. Combined, they provide over 14,000m² of exhibition and dining space, built in just a few weeks and dismantled just as quickly.

Some facts about the Chelsea Flower Show:

• The Queen visited the show over 50 times during her 70 year reign as Queen.
• Before we started building The Great Pavilion in 1996, the RHS used one giant marquee, which spent years as the world's largest tent in the Guinness Book of Records.
• The show hosts over 500 exhibitors from all around the world.

The Great Pavilion

The Great Pavilion is the largest stand-alone structure we build annually, covering over 12,570m² of exhibition space. It consists of 3 connected structures and is designed to cover the iconic central monument, which stands 13 m high.

Gavin Scheidal, our Senior Foreman, shared his experience: “I’ve been building the Great Pavilion since 1999. With the pre-planning and the experience of our team, we’ve been able to rise to the challenge each year and support one another to get the job done.”

The Pavilion has evolved significantly. Originally two separate buildings, it is now a unified structure that provides optimal space and conditions for over 500 exhibitors worldwide.

Mical De Boer, Managing Director at Losberger De Boer UK, recalls: “The RHS asked if we could improve the Pavilion by connecting both structures and covering the monument. We didn’t know how at first, but our engineering team found a unique solution, and we made it happen.”

The Pavilion has become an ideal environment for horticultural displays. David Edwards, Head of Operations at RHS, explains: “Losberger De Boer provide us with the Great Pavilion, which is an amazing structure and the centrepiece of the show. The horticultural growers find it an ideal environment with the right light levels, airiness, and ventilation to keep their plants healthy all week.”

The Ranelagh Restaurant

The second venue we provide is The Ranelagh Restaurant. Located in the Ranelagh Gardens, our double-decker structure hosts 3 different hospitality experiences, including The Dorchester who have a reputation for serving one of the finest afternoon tea experiences in the world!

The restaurant is created using a combination of our Premier and Anova structures to create 1400 m2 of premium hospitality space, including a champagne roof terrace.

David Edwards, Head of Operations at RHS said: “Losberger De Boer supply us with a double-decker restaurant, the finish of which is amazing, providing a great environment for our premium dining services”.

F&B Manager of The Ranelagh Restaurant, Dominic Clarke-Venters, said: "Operationally this structure is perfect for what we're delivering. For us to be able to come in and offer such a high tier of hospitality in essentially what is a field is quite remarkable"

Final Thoughts

The scale of this show is absolutely immense, requiring months of planning and preparation from all parties involved. Our partnership with The Royal Horticultural Society is one which we are immensely proud of and we feel honoured to have grown with the show for the past 26 years.

Client Testimonial:

“We’ve got a long-standing relationship with Losberger De Boer; we work really closely throughout the year. Their organisation is really good, which is important because it’s a really tight schedule, and it’s really key that we hit our deadlines.”

“From conception through to delivery, they’re always very receptive to change, and they’re a great team; we really enjoy working together.”

- Sarah Jerold, Senior Project Manager at the RHS

Check out the series from BBC to see everything that went on at the show: https://lnkd.in/eHS2RCRf