News

New urban garden, Laak Boorndap, revealed for Melbourne Arts Precinct

Situated on an elevated deck, the 18,000 square metres of parkland will provide a quick, accessible and safe connection from the city to Southbank Boulevard.

3 Sep 2024 20:28

Richard Watts

A render of Laak Boorndap, the new urban garden being built as part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation.

Landscape Architecture

A render of Laak Boorndap, the new urban garden being built in Melbourne Arts Precinct. Image: Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation/MAP Co.

Melbourne’s arts precinct will soon have a new green heart following the construction of Laak Boorndap (pronounced Lark-Born-Darp and meaning “Heaven’s Beauty”), an urban garden designed by the Melbourne studio of international design practice Hassell, together with New York’s SO-IL.

Working with internationally renowned horticulturalists Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough, together with plant expert Jac Semmler from Melbourne company, Super Bloom, Hassell and SO-IL’s plans for Laak Boorndap were revealed on Monday (2 September 2024).

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Join Now Login

Richard Watts

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts