Five Australian multidisciplinary teams have made it to the final stage of the National Sculpture Garden Design Competition, which will see the winning group design the $60-million Sculpture Garden project for the National Gallery of Australia.

The multimillion-dollar project is set to revitalise one of Australia’s most significant and distinct sculpture gardens, creating a globally renowned destination for visitors, art and artists.

Launched in April 2024, the two-stage competition called for innovative designs to transform the three-hectare garden into a place for experiencing art, education, and cultural and social events, while honouring the garden’s original design intent and heritage values. Entrants were required to form multidisciplinary partnerships including a landscape architect, an Australian First Nations practitioner, artist, architect and botanist or horticulturalist.

The finalists were selected by a jury headed by architect and Heritage Council of Victoria chair Philip Goad, along with National Gallery director Dr Nick Mitzevich, Barkandji artist and curator Nici Cumpston OAM, and renowned Chilean landscape architect Teresa Moller.

“Revitalising the National Sculpture Garden is a project of ambition that will create a world-class artistic experience within a unique Australian landscape setting,” National Gallery director Dr Mitzevich says.

“We look forward to seeing the shortlisted concept designs develop further over the coming months,” he says.

The finalists will now proceed to the final stage of the competition, where they have been invited to provide a further submission for the jury’s consideration. The winning design will be announced in October 2024.

The National Sculpture Garden Design Competition shortlist

CO-AP Holdings Pty Ltd (New South Wales)

First Nations consultant Bradley Mapiva Brown (Bagariin Ngunnawal Cultural Consulting), landscape architect Johnny Ellice-Flint (Studio JEF), artist Leila Jeffries, horticulturalist Robert Champion (TARN), architect William Fung (CO-AP), architect Phillip Arnold (Plus Minus Design), PMI Engineers and Heymann Consulting.

Emergent Studios Pty Ltd T/A Bush Projects (Victoria)

Landscape architect Matthew Hamilton (Bush Projects), architects Louise Wright and Mauro Baracco (Baracco Wright Architects), First Nations representatives Christine Phillips, Jock Gilbert and Sophie Pearce (Yulendj Weelam Lab), artists Mel George and Daphne Banyawarra (Bula’bula Arts), ecologist Dr David Freudenberger and Plan Cost Australia.

Hassell Ltd (Victoria)

Architect Alix Smith (Hassell), landscape architect Sharon Wright (Hassell), artist and descendant of the Yawuru people from the Rubibi/Broome area in Western Australia's Kimberley Region Robert Andrew, artist Tess Maunder, architect Ben Duckworth (Hassell), landscape architect John Hazelwood, horticultural ecologist Professor James Hitchmough and quantity surveyor Runil Gannoo (Slattery).

McGregor Coxall Australia Pty Ltd (New South Wales)

Landscape architects Adrian McGregor and Fraser Halliday (McGregor Coxall), Australian Waanyi multimedia artist Judy Watson, Indigenous engagement specialists Lea Gage and Dr Annie Burgess (Murawin), botanist/horticulturalist Neil Marriot, architect John Choi (CHROFI), and heritage consultants Rachel Jackson, Anna Leeson and Edward Robbins (GML Heritage).

SBLA Studio Pty Ltd (Victoria)

Aboriginal design consultant Troy Casey (Blaklash), landscape architect Owen Café (Blaklash), poet and artist Jazz Money, creative director Simone Bliss (SBLA Studio), landscape architects Georgia Aldous and Matt Wakelin (SBLA Studio), horticulturalist Jac Semmler (Super Bloom), architects Aaron Roberts, Kim Bridgeland and Oskar Kazmanli-Liffen (Edition Office), experience designers Rae Perks and Dan Koerner (Sandpit), regenerative architect Jane Caught (Heliotope), architectural assistant Samuel Torre and quantity surveyor Vincent Lau (Prowse).

Image: Shortlisted entrants attend Stage Two briefing of the National Sculpture Garden Design Competition at the National Gallery of Australia, 19 June 2024. L-R: Adrian McGregor (McGregor Coxall); Sarah Hicks (Bush Projects); Simone Bliss (SBLA Studio); Sharon Wright (Hassell Ltd); and Will Fung (CO-AP). Credit: National Gallery of Australia