London-and-Valletta-based architecture firm Mizzi Studio has unveiled its latest eco-conscious commission for the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, called the Carbon Garden.  

Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world.

The Carbon Garden, Kew's major new addition, opened to the public on 25th July 2025. 

The seven-metre-high pavilion is a sculpture as much as it is a place of shelter, crowned with a carbon-sequestering flax natural-fibre composite canopy, one of the first permanent structures of its kind globally, advancing this emerging renewable material at architectural scale. 

According to the studio, led by architect and designer Jonathan Mizzi, this new commission "brings together cutting edge botanical science, ecological design, and a powerful expression of Maltese creativity” through a pavilion “grown through nature”, that explores the vital role of carbon in sustaining our climate. 

The structure rests on low-carbon foundations crafted from engineered Larvikite granite, chosen for its strength and minimal environmental impact. 

Its radial Glulam Larch timber frame, braced with bent laminated birch connectors, shelters a sculptural rainwater collection funnel inspired by the pitcher plant. This feature channels rainfall into the adjacent rain garden, demonstrating how architecture can nourish nature.

“The pavilion is a symbolic fruiting body and an extension of the Carbon Garden’s planting scheme, celebrating the symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi. Born from the belief that our future must be grown from renewable natural materials, it is shaped by the beauty and intelligence of nature, grounded in science,” Mr Mizzi said.  

“I hope it stands as a living expression of Kew’s mission to imagine and build a more harmonious world.”

This latest commission marks a pivotal point in Mizzi Studio’s growing body of work focused on climate conscious design. It reinforces the studio’s position in global conversations around regenerative architecture and signals a new chapter in the evolving relationship between science, design and the living world.

Known for its blend of craft, biophilic innovation and architectural storytelling, Mizzi Studio has shaped a diverse and impactful portfolio of ecologically and culturally significant projects, from The Royal Parks and The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to Green School Bali and the Science Museum in London. 

Now, Mizzi Studio is working on a commission from the Malta Tourism Authority to design a sustainable future for Blue Lagoon, Comino.