The new John Madejski Garden opened on 5 July 2005. Kim Wilkie's new design has transformed the garden. The Italianate courtyard is now a stylish, elegant place to meet and provides a central point from which to explore the museum. The main feature is a stone-paved oval, with surrounding steps and water jets, which can be filled with water as a reflecting pool or drained for displays.
Grass lawns and York stone paving surround the central oval. Glass planters contain lemon trees in summer and will contain clipped hollies in winter. The courtyard walls have been softened by plantings of blue hydrangeas as well as Salvia 'Enigma' and Dahlia 'David Howard'. The salvias will be an intense blue and the dahlias have orange flowers with dark purple/bronze foliage. There will be seasonal displays of plants such as echium, foxtails, irises, lilies and spring bulbs.
The design allows the garden to be used both as a simple courtyard garden and as a stage set for display, theatre, parties and events. The terraces on the south side are designed to accommodate cafés and bars.
As opposed to the enclosed courtyard of the British Museum, the courtyard of the V&A brings nature closer to us. Pure sky, natural weather, knowing that precious art is only just inside.
