wHY has won the Ross Pavilion & Gardens international design competition. wHY's organic landscape-focused scheme respects the historic setting yet brings new energies, opens up views, transforms access and increases overall green space within West Princes Street Gardens.
Inspired by the Gardens' geology and history - from the volcanic forces to the man-made energy of the Victorian pleasure garden - the design subtly positions the new visitor centre and the 'butterfly' Pavilion into the folds of the landscape, enabling the Castle to remain the main visual event. The scheme increases the amount of green space relative to hard surfaces within the Gardens and is, in the team's words, 'human scale with moments of drama... activating four layers of meaning within the Gardens: botanical, civic, commemorative and cultural.'
This mark's the US based practice's first major park project and first project in Europe. Notably, wHY was the only American company invited to compete to design the USD $33 million public realm project.
