By BRIDGET COOK
ROYAL Botanic Gardens Cranbourne has taken out gold in what is considered the ’Olympics of Architecture’.
Cranbourne’s Australian Garden, designed by Taylor Cullity Lethlean with Paul Thompson, was named Landscape of the Year at the prestigious World Architecture Festival Awards on Sunday night.
The award was one of three major prizes announced at gala dinner awards ceremony in Singapore with the Australian Garden overcoming competition from Thailand, United Kingdom, Lebanon, Sweden, Australia and China.
Royal Botanic Gardens director and chief executive professor Tim Entwisle said he was thrilled to see the Australian Garden acknowledged on the world stage.
“Yet another accolade for the botanic garden already compared to Sydney’s Opera House,” he said.
“This shows that the marriage of our fascinating native flora with innovative and exciting design is a winner.”
The World Architecture Festival Awards jury, made up of renowned architectural and urban designers, commended the project.
“This garden brilliantly summarises the great variety of Australian flora as well as the large part of the country which is arid desert,” the jury said.
“Like a botanic garden, it is a collection of difference, but with a strong unifying set of journeys through the various landscapes.
“This landscape stood out with its originality and strong evocation of Australian identity without having to use any signs or words – just the beautiful flora of Australia’s countryside.”
The 15-hectare Australian Garden was completed in October 2012 after 20 years of planning, construction and planting, making it Australia’s newest botanic garden.
Located in the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, the garden showcases 170,000 Australian native plants across 1700 species.
