LandLAB were invited to participate in an international design competition for a new 75ha Botanical Park in Gelendhizk, Russia. Our design strategy draws upon the ecological, geological and cultural context of Gelendzhik to inform a high performance, multi layered and flexible park strategy that touches the site lightly, reestablishes a resilient park ecology and programs the site with a range of botanical, recreational and social experiences.

The park promenade provides a multi-functional, hybrid and layered park spine that serves ecological, hydrological and organisational functions for the park. The Promenade traces the path of the existing stream and enables this to be daylighted as a key feature of the site. The path frames a cellular arrangement of park spaces and ecological zones that re-establishes the ecological and hydrological primacy of the stream as a connecting element of the park.

These rooms provide for the water collection, treatment and ecological richness_ The Parks infrastructural components - bridges, lookouts and pavilions - are conceived as a family of elements that support the concept of a distribution of precious elements across the site. The design language provides the park with a cohesive and memorable identity. The materiality of these hard infrastructural components provides s deliberate contrast with the wild and ephemeral nature of the garden.