Winning Design 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.

“The Jury were struck by the devotion and care CO-AP Holdings had for the National Sculpture Garden,” said Dr Mitzevich.

“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.