Custom promenade seating, 133 metres long, is installed in the Garden For the Future, an extension of the Bendigo Botanic Gardens designed by TCL with Paul Thompson for the City of Greater Bendigo.
The garden opened in April 2019, with the long, curved seating installed in July. Its battens are made from 700 linear metres of Red Gum timber, reclaimed from trees removed for the Ravenswood interchange project on the Calder Freeway.
The promenade bench is “a place to sit and relax,” says the City of Greater Bendigo, with seating in high demand around the garden. “We’ve found that a lack of public seating is detrimental to many people enjoying the Botanic Gardens and this is one of the most frequently requested features,” they say.
“The seating will also provide additional audience capacity for events held at the Bendigo Botanic Gardens, as it is oriented towards the stage and shelter area.
“Certain demographics of the community, such as elderly visitors and disabled visitors, have made special requests for extra seating in the Garden for the Future.”
Arqua Drinking Fountains with Dog Bubblers are also seen in the garden, for visitors and their pets.
The promenade offers ample seating during events.
The garden is a sustainable landscape with opportunities for learning about plants, horticulture, landscapes, botany, ecology, conservation and heritage, say designers TCL.
The plant palette was chosen to thrive in today’s conditions, and also in hotter and more extreme conditions forecast for Bendigo in future climate models. Visitors are encouraged to use climate-appropriate plants at home, in new and interesting ways.
“As landscape architects, we have an opportunity to communicate important environmental messages through high quality and memorable design,” TCL Director, Lisa Howard, told ODS.
“We wanted to create a diversity of plant genera, species and forms that come together in a way that is attractive and interesting, but organised in a strong framework that allows for research and testing.
“Some plants will offer quick growth, being visually evident in two to three years, but the majority will be of medium to slow growth, where the design intent may not be immediately visible for ten to fifteen years, before the garden reaches full maturity in thirty to forty years.”
The garden features three areas around an oval-shaped promenade: the International Biome, Australian Biome and Fun and Fantasy Lawn – each demonstrating exotic or native Australian plants working together.
Garden For the Future opening, prior to seat installation. Photo: TCL.
A lime-green pavilion designed by Peter Elliott Architecture and Urban Design provides amenities and a stage for events such as performances, moonlight cinema and plant sales.
The garden also contains gathering spaces for weddings and corporate functions, and the central lawn, framed by the promenade, will also host markets and events.
The design draws upon the cultural clues of the site, say TCL, including the historical farming of land by the Indigenous populations, deep historical geological patterns, ‘puddling’ during the gold rush era and market gardens that followed.
The pink boxes installed along the growing hedge will become viewing ‘windows’ when the greenery is established.
Concept for the custom promenade seating, by TCL.
Take a seat at the Garden for the Future!
Old life has been given a new future in the form of beautiful promenade seating in the Garden for the Future at the Bendigo Botanic Gardens ????Approximately 133 metres of new seating has been installed using recycled timber, including approximately 700 linear metres of reclaimed Red Gum from the trees that were removed as a result of the Ravenswood interchange project on the Calder Freeway.
Posted by City of Greater Bendigo on Sunday, 21 July 2019
