Winning team announced for National Sculpture Garden Competition

The National Gallery of Australia has announced multi-disciplinary team CO-AP Holdings, comprising CO-AP, Studio JEF, TARN and Plus Minus Design , as the winner of the National Sculpture Garden Design Competition.

The winning team was selected for their vision of the National Sculpture Garden based on respect, care and future ambition for the iconic three-hectare site. The National Gallery and the CO-AP Holdings team will work together on the revitalisation of the National Sculpture Garden to create a living gallery for the 21st century.

National Gallery Director, Dr Nick Mitzevich said CO-AP Holdings won the competition with a thoughtful approach that showed a sensitivity and respect for the garden’s history and heritage; a plan for renewing, reconnecting and revitalising existing gardens and infrastructure; more than doubling the space for public art, while creating opportunities for new experiences and a permanent building.

National Gallery Director, Dr Nick Mitzevich said: ‘The Jury were struck by the devotion and care CO-AP Holdings had for the National Sculpture Garden. CO-AP Holdings understood the significance and gravitas of the existing garden and its legacy, but also the importance of bringing the garden into the 21st century.’

‘We are excited by their vision to renew and reconnect the Gallery with the garden, and more than double the amount of space for works of art. We want our visitors to feel they are in a landscape that is enveloped in art and architecture.’

‘We are very much at the beginning of the journey and we look forward to working with the team to develop a final design and future vision for the Garden.’

The National Gallery will now begin working with CO-AP Holdings and key stakeholders to develop a design for National Sculpture Garden over 2025.

Throughout the competitive process, CO-AP impressed the Jury with a number of design options that showed their understanding of the existing garden while skilfully outlining a sustainable approach for its long-term future. Their draft design imagined a Sculpture Garden that re-connects the National Gallery with the surrounding landscape; enhancing accessibility, lighting and amenities across the site, while creating a sustainable future for both the gardens and art. The Jury highlighted a number of design elements put forward by the winning team that will be explored for the final design including:

• Replacing the existing Sculpture Garden marquee with a permanent stainless-steel and glass pavilion that creates a new space for exhibitions, events and education programmes, while immersing visitors in the surrounding landscape.
• Creating seven distinct and interconnected gardens that weave their way around the National Gallery in a continuous circuit. The gardens will showcase Australia’s rich biodiversity, transforming the current summer, winter and spring gardens into eucalypt forests, a fern gully, casuarina groves and grassy woodlands.
• Introducing a new promenade and multi-use campus square at the National Gallery forecourt, creating a welcoming space for visitors and new display opportunities for art.
• More than doubling the space for art and cultural experiences across the National Sculpture Garden.
• Embedding First Nations principles and perspectives into the ongoing development of the design, and continued care of the garden, as a core principle of its future, ensuring continued stewardship and connections to Country.
  

The competition winning team participants include architect Will Fung (CO-AP), landscape architect Johnny Ellice-Flint (Studio JEF), horticulturalist Robert Champion (TARN), architect Phillip Arnold (Plus Minus Design), First Nations consultant Bradley Mapiva Brown (Bagariin Ngunnawal Cultural Consulting), artist Leila Jeffreys, structural engineer PMI Engineers, lighting designer Arup, wayfinding consultant Studio Ongarato, heritage consultant CAB Consulting, art consultant Felicity Fenner and quantity surveyor Heymann Consulting.

Will Fung from the CO-AP Holdings team: ‘On behalf of our entire design team we are incredibly excited to be selected as the winner of the Sculpture Garden Design Competition. We decided to enter the competition because we shared a deep love for the Sculpture Garden originally designed by Harry Howard, Barbara Buchanan & Roger Vidler. It is the most important modernist landscape in Australia and provides a beautiful counterpoint to Colin Madigan’s magnificent gallery building. We feel that this is a sustainable and respectful design decision. We are very much looking forward to exploring, developing and implementing our ideas for the National Sculpture Garden with the National Gallery of Australia.’

The winning design team for the National Sculpture Garden Design Competition was selected unanimously by a Jury of distinguished experts chaired by architect and Chair of the Heritage Council of Victoria Prof Philip Goad, along with National Gallery Director Dr Nick Mitzevich, Barkandji artist and curator Nici Cumpston OAM and renowned Chilean landscape architect Teresa Moller.

The largest investment into the garden since its creation, the National Sculpture Garden project will be realised through philanthropic support.

Further information on the National Gallery Sculpture Garden Design Competition is available
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JESS BARNES
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ABOUT CO-AP HOLDINGS

CO-AP Holdings is a multi-disciplinary design team comprising CO-AP, Studio JEF, TARN and Plus Minus Design. Together they have significant experience across disciplines of landscape, architecture, interiors and urban design. They entered the competition driven by a shared love for the National Sculpture Garden.

CO-AP, led by Will Fung, is a close-knit team of architects experienced in delivering both small and large projects of various typologies. Born in Hong Kong and growing up in Canberra, Will was innately aware of the buildings and landscape in the bush capital. In particular he was very much influenced in childhood by the opening of the National Gallery of Australia in 1982. Upon graduating from UNSW, Will travelled to the Netherlands where he worked on a diverse range of projects. Establishing CO-AP in 2005, Will was joined by Tina Engelen as co-director in 2007. The practice thrives on challenging projects. Tackling difficult sites, complex briefs and strict planning controls enables the practice to seek alternative approaches to achieve better outcomes, and in doing so question the status quo. CO-AP’s design process often results in layers of complexity but always strives to distill an architecture that is simple, and executed with precision and clarity.

Studio JEF is an emerging creative landscape architecture practice established by Johnny Ellice-Flint. Johnny is a landscape architect who is deeply engaged with the design world, whether researching the tidal zones of Venetian lagoons, writing for industry journals or engaging with other design disciplines. A talented communicator and collaborator, his broad range of design skills balance landscape knowledge with architectural acumen at every scale. He recently launched Studio JEF to focus on private residential commissions and unique commercial or public projects.

TARN is a landscape practice founded by Robert Champion, a landscape designer, plant specialist and academic. TARN’s experimental, research-based approach is led by the study of native vegetation, ecological processes, under-utilised plant species and other things. Robert holds dual roles as director of TARN and lecturer at University of Technology Sydney in the Landscape Architecture program. In his academic capacity he teaches botany, horticulture, ecology and planting design. He also produces writing, works and non-traditional research outputs. His knowledge and interest in science and nature and its intersection with art, photography, design and philosophy provide a wide frame of reference.

Phillip Arnold of Plus Minus Design is an architect who teaches sometimes. Phillip worked for a long time at practices in Sydney before establishing Plus Minus Design in 2007. The focus of his practice is architecture, but interior design, landscape design and urban design are happy distractions. He has taught design studios and history at UNSW, UTS and Western Sydney University. Phillip has also taught interior design, won an urban design competition, and conducted landscape study tours of the Netherlands, Kyoto, Suzhou and Iran, but has not completed his horticultural studies.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCULPTURE GARDEN

Set in the unique environment of Kamberri/Canberra and on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, the National Sculpture Garden is one of the most significant sculpture gardens in Australia and is home to the Gallery's extensive sculpture collection.

Works began on the Sculpture Garden in 1981. Harry Howard and Associates designed the garden to complement the building. The diagonal of the main pathway and the floor plan of the garden repeats the triangular architecture of the main building. The innovative landscape design included a set of 'outside rooms' that showcase works by Australian and international artists.

The National Sculpture Garden features native plants suited to the environmental conditions of the region and is currently home to over 65 sculptures and installations by leading Australian and international artists including Bert Flugelman, Clement Meadmore, Antony Gormley, Tracey Emin and Thancoupie (Dhaynagwidh/Thaynakwith people).

Major immersive works include Within without by American artist James Turrell, one of his largest and most complex Skyspaces to date; and Lindy Lee’s Ouroboros, a four-metre high, and approximately 13 tonne sculpture, set to be unveiled on 25 October 2024.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA
The National Gallery is Australia’s national visual arts institution dedicated to collecting, sharing and celebrating art from Australia and the world.

Home to the most valuable collection of art in Australia, the national collection comprises over 155,000 works of art, including the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.

Based in the nation’s capital, the National Gallery sits on the southern shore of Lake Burley Griffin, on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, and within Canberra’s National Triangle. The heritage listed building, designed by award winning architect Colin Madigan AO, is a beacon of experimental design and exemplary Brutalist architecture.