OLIN accepts Philip Hanson Hiss award at Selby Gardens

Climate change and coastal resilience are routinely involved in daily conversation, said Architecture Sarasota Board Chair Anne Essner.

However, she said the work of landscape architecture and urban design firm OLIN, one company involved in the master plan of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, helped the facility of the Downtown Sarasota Campus withstand last year's storms. 

Architecture Sarasota presented the firm with the Philip Hanson Hiss award during a ceremony held at Selby Gardens on March 28.

Philip Hanson Hiss III, who influenced the Sarasota School of Architecture and helped found New College of Florida, is the namesake of the award, which honors current architectural pioneers.

"Quite frankly, it says OLIN on this award, but should also say Selby Gardens," said Marty Hylton III, president of Architecture Sarasota, noting Selby Gardens' role of envisioning the project. 

"Just as Hiss fostered a community of forward-thinking architects like Paul Rudolph, whose Umbrella House became an icon of the Sarasota School, OLIN cultivates a collaborative approach, deeply respecting the site, the cultural context and programmatic possibilities of each project," Hylton also said. 

Chief Purpose Officer Richard Roark, of OLIN, accepted the award.

"To see our work platformed, the work at Selby and the work of our practice throughout the world, it keeps us honest and it keeps us thankful, and we know it means something to people as well," he said. "We know that it's doing its job."

Phase One of the project, completed in 2024, includes 188,030 square feet of facilities, such as the Morganroth Family Living Energy Access Facility, which includes the world's first net-positive energy restaurant entirely utilizing solar power; the Steinwachs Family Plant Research Center; and the Jean Goldstein Welcome Center. 

Phase Two will include a conservatory complex, a learning pavilion, and key landscape features. Selby Gardens announced on March 25 that it had raised $50 million toward Phase Two, which is 82% of its goal.