Melbourne’s best and emerging designers have been summoned to put their design skills to the test for The Secret Garden Melbourne Ideas Competition, for which the winner will transform an underutilised space in Melbourne’s CBD into a thriving garden.

The space, located at Birrarung on the northern bank of the Yarra between Birrarung Marr and the Docklands, will be reinvigorated as part of City of Melbourne’s Greenline strategy. The space is optimised as a ‘grey’ area, that will be turned into a ‘green’ haven following the completion of the competition. 

The competition, overseen by the City of Melbourne, Committee For Melbourne, Jack Merlo and the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, is seen as a unique opportunity for designers to contribute to the recovery of the city in the wake of the pandemic.

Once registrations of interest are finalised on 30 January, the competition will follow a three part process. Entrants will create a schematic design for their innovative concept, which is to be submitted by 6 February. From there, finalists for the competition will be announced on 14 February, with all finalists able to showcase their ideas to the judging panel at the Melbourne International Garden Show on 30 March. A winner will be chosen shortly after, who will have the opportunity to co-design The Secret Garden Melbourne with renowned landscape architect, Jack Merlo. 

The competition committee has asked for designers to register their interest by 30 January 2022 on thesecretgardenmelbourne.com website.

Image: Supplied