Chelsea garden highlights importance of peatlands
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London St. Pancras Highspeed is sponsoring The Composer’s Cabin at RHS Chelsea 2026
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Martha at St Pancras
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London St. Pancras Highspeed is sponsoring The Composer’s Cabin at RHS Chelsea 2026, using music, planting and immersive design to raise awareness of peatland conservation and peat-free gardening.
Award-winning designer Martha Krempel will bring peatlands into focus at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 with The Composer’s Cabin, an immersive feature garden sponsored by London St. Pancras Highspeed.
Inspired by the beauty and ecological importance of peatlands, the installation combines horticulture, music and environmental storytelling to help visitors better understand these fragile and often-overlooked landscapes.
At the centre of the design will be a self-playing Steinway grand piano housed within the cabin, reflecting London St. Pancras Highspeed’s long-standing association with music and performance. Visitors will be encouraged to step into the space, pause and reflect while engaging with the garden’s environmental message.
Krempel’s design blurs the boundaries between indoors and outdoors by echoing leaf forms and natural textures throughout both the planting and interior space. A specially created soundscape will further immerse visitors in the atmosphere of peatland environments.
The garden also includes a transplanted peat core provided by the South West Peatland Partnership, revealing the layers of history preserved within peatlands and highlighting their importance beyond horticulture alone.
Peatlands may cover just 3% of the Earth’s land surface, but they are the planet’s largest terrestrial carbon store, locking away more carbon than all the world’s forests combined. However, around 75% of UK peatlands are currently degraded and actively releasing greenhouse gases.
The installation supports the RHS’s move towards peat-free gardening and aims to demonstrate how simple choices, including selecting peat-free compost, can help protect these vital habitats.
London St. Pancras Highspeed’s support reflects its wider environmental commitments, including previous peatland restoration projects in the Scottish Borders that are projected to prevent more than 21,000 tonnes of CO₂e emissions over the next century.
Following RHS Chelsea, an adapted version of The Composer’s Cabin will move to St Pancras station, bringing its message on peatland conservation and sustainable gardening to millions of travellers throughout the summer.