Architect wins industry award for Selby Gardens design work

A firm that led the Phase 1 design work of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Master Plan has been awarded the 2026 COTE (Committee on the Environment) Top Ten Award by the American Institute of Architects. 

Overland Partners of San Antonio, Texas, deployed a project team that included landscape architect; a solar power engineer and contractor; a structural, mechanical and electrical engineer; and general contractor Willis Smith Construction of Lakewood Ranch. 

According to a news release, for 29 years the COTE award has been regarded as one of the architecture profession’s most prestigious honors for sustainable design. It annually honors 10 projects that integrate design excellence with high performance across 10 key areas.

Image courtesy of Alan Karchmer/OTTO

“We are honored and humbled to accept this award on behalf of the entire team that helped bring Marie Selby Botanical Gardens to life,” said Overland Partners President and Principal Adam Bush in the release. “Since our founding in 1987, Overland Partners has forged a meaningful legacy of work designed to foster human and environmental flourishing. As the world’s first net-positive energy botanical garden, Selby Botanical Gardens continues that legacy, acting as a global model of resilience and innovation. 

Phase One of the Selby Gardens project included a new master plan created by Overland Partners and landscape architect OLIN, and the design and build of: 

• A new welcome center.
• Plant research center that includes an herbarium, laboratory and research library.
• Living Energy Access Facility (LEAF) that houses mechanical, electrical and plumbing equipment and an attached parking structure, gift shop, plant sales area and restaurant.
• A new stormwater vault and filtration system.
• A new section of the multi-use recreational trail that connects pedestrians and bicyclists to the gardens and Sarasota Bay.

Image courtesy of Alan Karchmer

Following the completion of Phase 1 in January 2024, the team’s work was put to an early test facing a series of historic storms and hurricanes, including Hurricane Helene in September and Hurricane Milton two weeks later. Selby’s new buildings succeeded in protecting its collections and recovering quickly.

“Our work with (President and CEO) Jennifer Rominiecki and the entire Selby Botanical Gardens team is a singular example of how collaboration, creativity and collective vision can result in a highly impactful project that is catalytic for a future generation of buildings that positively impact humanity and our environment,” said Bush in the release.

Selby Botanical Gardens has also won several accolades and honors. Earlier this year, it received Petal Certification through the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge. In 2025, it won the American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. It was also awarded Travel + Leisure’s 2025 Global Vision Award for Sustainability, and was named to Vogue’s 2025 list of Best Botanical Gardens in the United States and USA Today’s 2025 Top 10 Botanical Gardens in the United States. It is on Time magazine’s 2024 World’s Greatest Places and was included in The Wall Street Journal’s list of Best Architecture of 2024.