Ederney Wellness Trails is conceived as a landscape-led project focused on health, wellbeing and community use, creating a network of accessible routes and outdoor spaces within a carefully considered natural setting. The scheme seeks to strengthen people’s connection with the landscape by providing places for walking, rest, social interaction and quiet reflection.

The design approach is intentionally understated, allowing the landscape to remain the dominant experience. Meandering paths move gently through areas of grassland and established planting, encouraging a slower pace and offering a variety of views, stopping points and moments of shelter. Rather than treating the route simply as circulation, the trail is designed as a sequence of experiences, with changes in enclosure, planting, light and material helping to give each part of the journey its own character.

A series of small architectural interventions are positioned along the route to support gathering and pause. These structures are designed to sit comfortably within the landscape, using a restrained palette of natural and durable materials. Stone walls, timber seating and lightweight canopy structures create sheltered places that feel robust and permanent while remaining visually recessive within their surroundings.

The pavilion elements provide opportunities for informal meeting, rest and community activity, while their open form maintains strong visual connections with the surrounding landscape. Carefully positioned seating and covered areas allow the spaces to be used throughout changing weather conditions, supporting the project’s wider ambition of encouraging year-round outdoor activity.

Planting forms an important part of the overall design strategy. Existing vegetation is complemented by additional native and naturalistic planting to reinforce biodiversity, soften the built interventions and strengthen the sense of immersion within the landscape. The relationship between architecture and planting is deliberately close, with buildings, paths and landscape elements conceived as parts of a single composition.