Award-winning garden moves to Manchester Metropolitan University

She added: “Having attended university myself, I hope the contemporary, tech-inspired garden, with its fun and vibrant planting, will offer students a rejuvenating escape from studying, ultimately improving their well-being and academic performance”.

Lucy Walker, professor of psychology at MMU, who has been working on the project, said: “Spending time in nature has a huge impact on our wellbeing and productivity at work.”

She added that the garden in the university’s Brooks Building “gives us an excellent opportunity to investigate this further, making use of a dynamic green space on our doorstep in order to demonstrate the beneficial effects for staff, students and visitors.”

MMU said the garden’s unique design was inspired by the digital world, with trees and rebar fences that mimic cables and laser-cut panels that replicate circuit board patterns.

To create a textured industrial feel, recycled wood and Corten-effect steel are used and drought-tolerant plants symbolize “the tension of excessive screen time, while bold colors and shapes evoke the instant gratification of technology.”