Awards join new garden’s landscape

By Sarah Schwager
THE Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne proved it was leagues ahead of the rest after winning all its sections in this year’s South East Development Awards for Architectural Excellence.
The awards went to significant architecture at the newly completed Australian Garden, which is yet to open.
Three projects at the gardens won awards for Best Public Building, Best Public Space and Best Environmental Landscape, as well as the Chairman’s Premier Award, which they won jointly.
Architects Kerstin Thompson, Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Paul Thompson, and Site Office Pty Ltd, were over the moon after being honoured at a dinner at the Beaconsfield Community Centre on Wednesday, 10 May.
In their citation, judges Professor Catherin Bull, Professor Leon van Schaik and renowned photographer John Gollings said the ensemble of the exquisite visitor centre and the first stage of the radically conceived new botanical gardens made it the most exciting new public facility in Australia this year.
“This garden is likely to change the way that we think about our landscapes especially in urban and peri-urban situations,” the judges said.
They said the Australian Garden Visitor Centre by Kerstin Thompson Architects was “discreetly tailored to its function” and “also environmentally responsible, using passive climate control principles”.
Of the Future Garden, designed by Site 1 Office, the judges said it “explored the dilemmas of gardening in an age where gardens need to be green in both senses of the word, and traditional technologies, materials and forms need to be rethought to those ends”.
The awards, in their second year, are promoted by South East Development to recognise the contribution that design excellence brings to the quality of life experienced by residents of and visitors to Melbourne’s south east. South East Development chairman Charles Wilkins said he was very pleased with the number and quality of entries this year.
“The three joint winners of the Chairman’s Award at the Royal Botanic Gardens truly reflect our aim to demonstrate how architecture and good landscape design make a real contribution to the quality of life in the region,” he said.
“I was particularly delighted that these projects will be accessible to the community to enjoy, which is not often possible with a private building.”
The Australian Garden will open at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne at 1000 Ballarto Road, Cranbourne, on Sunday, 28 May.
Festivities will run from 11.30am to 5pm, with free entry on the day.