Barefoot Walk

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

A central part of Kew’s Plantasia, its themed “festival” for summer 2014, which examines the life-enhancing power of plants, the Barefoot Walk gives visitors the chance to take off their shoes and socks in order to walk, hop and balance through a series of textured surfaces made from natural material.

Plantasia’s theme is the “life-enhancing power of plants”, and there is much research to suggest that “grounding” yourself barefoot in this manner can pay dividends for health and wellbeing. And of course, it’s fun, too.

APES sourced the material and built the trail according to designs produced by long-term partners Erect Architecture.

The Barefoot Walk is roughly 230m in length and uses mud, water, rocks, wood chippings and tree stumps. Some 750,000 visitors are expected to walk

Year
2014

Location
London Borough of Richmond

Build Time
2 weeks

Price
£22,000