The highly acclaimed Chelsea Australia Garden Olinda by Phillip Johnson Landscapes and featuring Decibel Architecture’s Waratah Studio has captured the attention of an international audience in PRC Magazine – a Hong Kong-based architecture publication.
A four-page spread highlights the history of the project, explores the rejuvenation of a former golf course and the reimagining of the Best in Show ‘Australia Garden’ at the 2013 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show ten years on from its initial inception. With the new Waratah Studio at the heart of the native garden, Decibel Architecture and Phillip Johnson Landscapes continue the important dialogue between architecture and landscape, nature and the built environment.
Words: dB(A) Strategy Director, Stephanie Brady
Photography: John Gollings, Claire Takacs, Hayley Cottrell
Stunning front cover image also captured by dB(A) Student of Architecture, Hayley Cottrell
(PRC Magazine noting that they couldn’t miss the opportunity to showcase this striking image.)
Below is an excerpt from the article. If you would like to read more, the full issue is available online on PRC Magazine’s Issuu.
Chelsea Australia Garden Olinda featuring the Waratah Studio – In 2013, Landscape Designer Phillip Johnson, Horticulturalist Wes Fleming and the Trailfinders Team, designed and installed the award winning ‘Australia Garden’ at the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show in London. This was the first Australian entry to win Gold and Best in Show!
Ten years on, Phillip Johnson Landscapes recreated this incredible award-winning Australian Garden in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden, Olinda, (Wurundjeri Country). This new garden is located on a section of the former Olinda Golf Course and is more than twentyfold the size of the original Chelsea Flower Show exhibit.
This stunning botanic garden supports biodiversity and habitat through the creation of important native habitats for native plants and animals in the area and features more than 15,000 plants from over 400 native Australian species. It includes rare and endangered species such as the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis), which is listed as critically endangered and other precious species. As the garden matures, it encourages wildlife such as birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, which are so important for the environment.
