Rudding Park in Harrogate has confirmed its new £9.5 million spa will unveil the UK’s first rooftop Spa Garden when it opens on 2 May.

The Spa Garden has been designed by renowned horticulturalist Matthew Wilson, a regular on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners Question Time who has written award-winning books on gardening and design, presented Channel 4’s The Landscape Man and received ‘The People’s Choice’ award for this 2016 Chelsea Flower Show garden. Wilson has worked closely with Rudding Park for over nine years with the Roof Top Spa Garden a culmination of his vision to create “a very special new experience for guests that relates to the history of the grand landscape found at Rudding Park”.

The garden takes its cue from the woodland glades that border The Spa, featuring one of the finest mature rhododendron and azalea collections in the north. Guests will be able to enjoy the south facing Sun Deck on the Roof Top Spa Garden, warm open-air Spa Bath and Garden Sauna Cabin amongst this garden.

The Spa Garden has been designed to evolve with the seasons. From the Hydrotherapy Infinity Pool, guests will look out over star flowered magnolia in the spring, whilst an avenue of Field Maple wrapping around the front of the spa will turn butter yellow in the autumn. Multi-stem Amelanchier form the central spine to the Roof Top Spa Garden, which transform from elegant white flowers to burnt red leaves with the changing of the seasons.

The Spa also features a Panoramic Sauna infused with Birch Blossom in spring and Rose Petal in summer, Herbal Bath Steam Room emitting aromas of Lavender and Euka-Menthol, as well as a Luxury Steam Room, Ice Fountain, Foot Spa, Experience Shower and relaxation area with heated Evo Loungers.

On his vision for the Roof Top Spa Garden, Matthew Wilson commented “The arrival landscape sets the scene for the very special experience to come with a sense of strolling through a woodland glade to get to The Spa. I’ve created a space that is very calming with its topiary beech domes and ornamental grasses, surrounded by beautiful woodland and trees, which can be appreciated from the south facing Sun Deck.  During my time working with the owners and management team at Rudding Park, we have all realised how much value the landscape adds to the visitor experience, whether in the form of ornamental gardens, the kitchen garden and now the spa landscape.  Guests love it, engage with it and want to know more about it.”

Rudding Park Spa will offer treatments by ila, Elemental Herbology, Carita and Jennifer Young, an indoor swimming pool using natural waters from the grounds of Rudding Park, a Juniper Log Sauna, Rasul for traditional Moorish mud treatments, a shop, hair studio, manicure, pedicure and makeup bar, as well as four immersive sensory zones to enhance wellness of mind, body and soul. Kitchen garden cuisine will be offered at Horto with seasonally inspired dishes by Chef Murray Wilson.