Urban Nature Project Wins Landscape Institute Award

The Urban Nature Project at the Natural History Museum has been honoured with the Landscape Institute’s 2025 award for “Excellence in Landscape Design,” announced on 14 November 2025 at the LI Awards ceremony.

About the Urban Nature Project

The project reimagines the Museum’s gardens as a biodiverse, educational landscape featuring woodland, wetlands, meadows, and accessible public spaces. Designed by J&L Gibbons with architects Feilden Fowles, it also includes two sustainable new buildings — the Nature Activity Centre and the Garden Kitchen.

Why This Recognition Matters

The Landscape Institute award celebrates innovative, sustainable landscape design in a major urban setting. This recognition highlights the Museum’s commitment to boosting biodiversity and public engagement with nature, demonstrating how heritage institutions can lead the way in climate-resilient, environmentally conscious design.

A Model for Nature-Positive Cities

The Urban Nature Project shows how thoughtfully designed urban spaces can support wildlife, improve wellbeing, and foster environmental learning. The five-acre site in South Kensington has been transformed into a welcoming, accessible and biologically diverse green space in the heart of London.

The gardens serve as a living laboratory, piloting a range of technologies for monitoring change in urban environments, including eDNA and acoustic monitoring. They offer a powerful blueprint for nature-rich cities of the future, demonstrating practical approaches to creating urban spaces that benefit both people and nature.