Today the UK is one of the largest producers of offshore wind energy in the world. This produces a large amount of waste turbine blades that currently end up buried in landfills as the material is not easily recycled. While renewable energy continues to gain ground over fossil fuels in Europe and beyond, it is also predicted that by 2050 we will be dealing with more than 43 million tonnes of blade waste, which will contribute to serious environmental problems unless proper solutions can be found.

With COP26 hosted in the UK and almost two centuries down the line since the Great Exhibition, Windflower on Exhibition Road repurposes a 50m long decommissioned wind turbine blade into urban furniture and street planters, raised from the ground to attract wild pollinators like bees nested in Hyde Park, while hopefully demonstrating what is possible in terms of construction and infrastructural upcycling as well as inviting visitors to increase their appetite for greener urbanism, that meaningful policy can enable.