Wardian London is welcoming plant and interior store and workshop provider Botanical Boys, which has today opened a new store located within the development. Mindfully connecting people to nature, the Botanical Boys’ store is located on the ground floor of Wardian, the botanically inspired residential development comprising two towers of 50 and 55 storeys which overlooks the financial hub Canary Wharf and offers an oasis of tranquillity above the urban density below.
Botanical Boys will be selling a diverse range of indoor and outdoor plants, as well as interior décor items, on top of its already established programme of creative workshops for terrarium-making and wreath-making. Its first store in Coal Drops Yard has thrived since opening in 2020, only growing in momentum as the trends of gardening and plant collecting soared over lockdown. In their new second store, Botanical Boyswill continue to sell unique plants and homeware items, such as sculptures, one-off rare finds, and African artwork, as well as offering bespoke consultation services.
Developed by EcoWorld Ballymore and designed in collaboration with Glenn Howells Architects, Wardian London is inspired by the 19th century creation Wardian Case by Dr Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, a local physician and botanist who revolutionised the transportation of exotic plants across the globe. The biophilia-designed development is a testament to Ward’s botanical innovation, blurring the boundaries between urban and green living, and offers residents a nature-inspired lifestyle in the heart of a thriving commercial and financial district.
A world first in housing design, Wardian London comprises two residential towers of 55 and 50-storeys, instantly recognisable by their slender profile and wrap-around private balcony gardens. Through the grand lobby lies an open-air swimming pool, state-of-the-art gym and wellness facilities, private cinema, landscaped gardens and vibrant rooftop Observatory. Located on the 53rd floor, The Observatory offers residents an exclusive lounge in the clouds, featuring tropical flowers, plants and trees from around the world, with an enclosed glass plant house entrance at its core evoking a botanical collector’s den.
With RHS Chelsea Flower Show just around the corner, the Botanical Boys will be celebrating spring with a series of workshops including terrarium-making and plant care sessions, led by its engaging tutors. Botanical Boys’ popular events have seen it invited time and time again to lead corporate sessions across the city, with terrarium design a particular favourite among visitors and regulars alike. The ethos of connecting people to nature equips Botanical Boys to provide a wellness offering to corporate customers right at the heart of a bustling business centre.
Once amateur gardeners testing out their green fingers in an East London flat, Botanical Boys is now a well-established authority in plant care, and has since been featured on BBC Great British Garden Revival, in The Sunday Times, and Abigail Will’s The New London Garden book. In 2021 it won Gold at the Chelsea Flower Show, for its partnership role at Putney High School biophilic classroom design research project, which demonstrated that plants positively affect children’s concentration and wellbeing in the classroom.
Darren Henderson, co-founder of Botanical Boys, comments: “We’re delighted to open our new plant store here at Wardian. We chose Wardian as the location for our second store because one of our great passions is teaching the art of terrarium design through our workshops. The terrarium holds a long history, dating back to 1829, when Dr Nathaniel Ward invented a box called a Wardian case, which enabled the safe transportation of plants globally and later inspired the name of this botanically inspired development. It was the perfect fit for us to set up a plant store within Wardian to continue growing our mission of connecting people with nature.”
