Architecture Sarasota honors design firm for revitalizing Selby Gardens

Architecture Sarasota has named the landscape and urban design firm OLIN as the 2025 recipient of its Philip Hanson Hiss Award in recognition of its recent revitalization of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. 

The award is named for Philip Hanson Hiss III (1910-1988), a driving force in the Sarasota School of Architecture, whose members tailored their designs to the geography, climate and lifestyle of Florida's Gulf Coast. Past recipients of the Hiss award include architects Toshiko Mori and Lord Norman Foster. 

Philadelphia-based OLIN won the Hiss award for its work on Phase One of Selby Gardens' master plan. Phase One, which opened in January 2024, includes a new Welcome Center with a circular plaza featuring plants from Selby's botanical collections. 

The expansion features such state-of-the-art facilities as the Morganroth Family Living Energy Acess Facility (LEAF) incorporating hurricane-resilient design and green infrastructure, The Green Orchid garden-to-table restaurant and the Steinwachs Family Plant Research Center. 

Selby is the only botanical garden in the world dedicated to the display and study of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads and ferns and other tropical plants.

“Echoing the core values and principles of the Sarasota School of Architecture, OLIN demonstrates that thoughtful, contextually driven design can celebrate the unique character of a place while enhancing the life of communities and its residents," said Morris Hylton III, president of Architecture Sarasota, in a statement. 

The collaboration between OLIN and Selby Gardens "demonstrates the power of design thinking to realize a vision and reimagine a significant place at the intersection of natural and cultural heritage," Hylton added.

Formed in 2021 through a merger between two predecessor architecture organizations, Architecture Sarasota is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Sarasota School of Architecture and to educating and advocating about the importance of good design.

Following OLIN's work, Selby Gardens has been the recipient of several awards, including Time magazine's World's Greatest Places in 2024, a 10 Best Reader's Choice Award from USA Today and a mention in the Wall Street Journal's "Best Architecture of 2024" roundup. 

Outside of Sarasota, OLIN's portfolio includes projects such as Bryant Park in New York City, the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington, D.C.

OLIN Chief Purpose Officer and Partner Richard Roark will accept the Hiss award from Architecture Sarasota at a gala and benefit on Friday, March 28. 

The day before, Roark will deliver a lecture on OLIN's philosophy of public-centered design and using landscape architecture to achieve sustainable urban transformation.

Both events will be held at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. For more information and tickets, please visit ArchitectureSarasota.org.