National Seed Bank at Australian National Botanic Gardens

Client Australian National Botanic Gardens

Location Canberra

The Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) is a nationally and internationally renowned botanical garden. It has a strong reputation for scientific and horticultural research and for its important contribution to the understanding, conservation and sustainable use of Australia’s plant biodiversity. The ANBG holds a significant living collection, seed bank and gene bank essential for managing the risk of species loss in the wild. The ANBG National Seed Bank is home to a large and ever increasing collection of Australian native seeds and holds many thousands of specimens with a history of collections dating back to the early 1960s. The Seed Bank is an integral part of the ANBG collections and supports the living collections and nursery with stock of new and replacement native species for display and safeguarding Australian native plants.
GMB is designing a building that is highly functional, robust to climate, resilient to bushfire and other threats to the collection, but welcoming to the public who seek to engage with the building. The building design takes into consideration the Northern Precinct Planning Study and addresses the relationships to the other precinct facilities and infrastructure as proposed in future stages of development for the site. Ultimately a successful project design and delivery will establish an exemplar facility with a unique identity that celebrates the institution and work undertaken within.