Gardens by the Bay commemorates 10 years with celebratory event
Gardens by the Bay has officially celebrated its 10th anniversary with a special event involving Guest of Honour Madam Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore, as well as current and former Ministers for National Development – Minister Desmond Lee, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Mr Khaw Boon Wan and Mr Mah Bow Tan.
Andrew Grant RDI, founder and director of Grant Associates, the landscape architecture practice that led on the design of the world-renowned project, joined the celebratory festivities, which began outdoors at Serene Garden with the unveiling of Perpetual Blooms (花姿飘逸), a specially-commissioned stainless steel sculpture by Cultural Medallion recipient Ms Han Sai Por, with elements symbolic of the Gardens. The sculpture was donated to the Gardens on the occasion of its 10th anniversary by Mr Tan Aik Hock.
The commemorative planting of raintrees followed, led by President Halimah Yacob and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. They planted a sapling taken from a raintree planted by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew at Marina South in November 1986 – which still stands in the Gardens today.
Four yellow raintrees were also planted by the following pairings:
- Minister Desmond Lee and Gardens by the Bay Chairman Mr Niam Chiang Meng
- Mr Khaw Boon Wan and Mr Mah Bow Tan
- Gardens by the Bay CEO Mr Felix Loh and Tote Board Chairman Mrs Mildred Tan
- Gardens by the Bay Corporate Advisor and Founding CEO Dr Kiat W. Tan and former Gardens by the Bay Chairman Mrs Theresa Foo
Yellow raintrees are rare variants of the common raintree, special because only one in every thousand seeds sown will grow into a yellow raintree. Not only was a yellow raintree planted during the ground-breaking ceremony of Gardens by the Bay in 2007, they are also symbolic of how the Gardens has evolved into a unique entity in its own right. The four yellow raintrees were donated by Mr Mak Chin On.
From the outdoors, the event segued into Flower Field Hall, where awards were presented to Strategic Partners, Embassy Partners and Donors who have supported the Gardens through the last decade.
President Halimah Yacob also officiated the naming of a new orchid hybrid, Dendrobium Gardens by the Bay 10th Anniversary, bred by the Gardens’ Research and Horticulture Department. The public can view this orchid at Mediterranean Garden in Flower Dome, where there will be a showcase of orchid hybrids bred by Gardens by the Bay.
The event ended with the launch of Seasons of Bloom (四季绽放), the finale floral display of 2022 that celebrates the year-end Yuletide season, and pays tribute to the different seasons of flowers from around the world that Gardens by the Bay has brought to Singaporeans over the years. Seasons of Bloom will open to public from tomorrow, and will run until Jan 2 next year in Flower Dome. The floral display is supported by Bloomberg, who have played a significant role in helping Gardens by the Bay bring back a calendar year of full-scale floral displays on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.
It has been an amazing 10 years and Gardens by the Bay would not be where it is today without the support of so many people, both locally and from overseas. We are deeply indebted to our leaders, government, community and embassy partners, sponsors and donors, volunteers, consultants in design, engineering, and landscaping, horticulture suppliers, as well as industry partners. Of course, no national icon can achieve international success without its local community, and Singaporeans have been so generous with their love and patronage in the past decade. My colleagues and I will continue to work hard to make Gardens by the Bay a special place in Singapore for many years to come.
To be here now, celebrating ten years of Gardens by the Bay, is truly remarkable. When we first won the competition for this project back in 2006, we never could’ve imagined the huge impact that it would ultimately have: Gardens by the Bay has welcomed more than 87 million visitors from all over the world since 2012 and is home to 1.5 million plants and an abundance of wildlife and insects, drawn to its rich biodiversity. Its success demonstrates the positive influence that landscape architecture can have when an intentional, nature-first design outlook is taken.
The core Gardens by the Bay design team:
- Grant Associates – Masterplanners and Supertree Designers
- Wilkinson Eyre – Architects of two Cooled Conservatories
- Atelier Ten - Environmental design consultants
- Atelier One – Structural engineers
- Land Design Studio – Museum and visitor centre designers
- Thomas Matthews – Communication designers
Learn more about Gardens by the Bay: https://grant-associates.uk.com/projects/gardens-by-the-bay
