Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
Australian Garden Pavilions
A series of three sculptural shelters in the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne’s Australian Garden – and a long-awaited expansion, 10 years on
Designed by Victorian landscape architects (and frequent BKK collaborators) TCL, the Australian Garden is an award-winning contemporary botanic garden located in the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne. The Cranbourne Gardens are recognised as a site of State significance for plant and wildlife conservation, with over 25 endangered or rare and threatened species living within its sprawling 363 hectares.
Between 2010–12 BKK delivered three sculptural pavilions within the 25-hectare Australian Garden portion of the Gardens. With Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria looking to diversify their event and education offerings, this series of pavilions would enable extended, flexible programming in all kinds of weather, as well as a place of respite amid the broader gardens.
The three structures included a simple covered seating area that acts as a gateway to the Gondwana area of the garden; a shelter inside the Gondwana area, made from tree trunks and a slender steel roof, frequently hosting school groups, weddings and other events; and a large third shelter housing a kiosk, rest facility and children’s educational area.
Big-picture Thinking
In addition to TCL, a rich selection of architects and artists contributed to the Australian Garden over several stages, including Kirsten Thompson Architects, Gregory Burgess Architects and artists Edwina Kearney and Mark Stoner. The Gardens brought in BKK to deliver our shade structure and two pavilions in stage two of the original project, with the intention to extend the third and largest structure in subsequent years. Ten years on, that’s exactly what we did.
In 2023, BKK Architects and TCL extended the shelter to include an outdoor all-weather dining area with an operable pergola and a roof that opens up in clear weather. Walls with zipper blinds mitigate strong local winds, while the education facility now enjoys life as a more flexible indoor/outdoor space, with moveable furniture and fixed bespoke joinery. It’s quickly become a mainstay of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria’s education program.
Collaboration and Humility
We have a huge amount of respect for the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, both as an institution and in terms of the stakeholder group we collaborated with closely in two intervals over the course of a decade. The Gardens team are passionate about their work and experts in their fields, and it was a joy to join forces with them once again to develop the third structure in the way it was always intended.
In the process of the expansion, we also worked closely with structural engineers to deliver a complex structural design for the pergola. What appears to be a straightforward structure is the result of meticulous planning and collaboration on the detailing, cladding and a system that allows the blinds to be elegantly collapsed and hidden when not in use.
Playfulness and Innovation
The original shelter was a reinterpretation of the Australian vernacular shed, with a corrugated roof and a rich timber interior that bleeds out into the exterior spaces. While pergolas with operable roofs are a dime a dozen in Victorian suburbs – including Cranbourne – our intention with the original shelter, and its expansion, was to test and play with that typology, transforming it into an elevated take on an iconic vernacular design.
The innovation of the structure lies in its flexibility, and our decision to design a multi-functional educational space with hidden storage, modular benches and endless possibilities for future activation and expansion.
Transformative Places, Holistic Benefits
Our three structures explore the meaning and history of shelter in the Australian context, from pre-settlement ingenuity to more contemporary architectural vernaculars. Responding directly to the landscape (rather than the other way around), the original pavilions are about more than architectural expression – they’re about a broader narrative of Australia as a continent.
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Photographer
Kieran Merriman