Commonwealth Park

The story of Commonwealth Park is fundamentally tied to the grand vision for the national capital. While Walter Burley Griffin initially sketched out a recreation area in his 1918 plan, the site held a more grounded history as home to Ebenezer Booth, whose 1874 house and retail store served early settlers until it was destroyed by fire in 1923. These early layers of human activity were eventually absorbed into the sweeping landscape design that defines the modern capital. In the 1960s, the park truly came into its own under the guidance of British landscape designer Dame Sylvia Crowe. Her master plan transformed the area into a sophisticated blend of natural beauty and designed spaces, moving away from the rigid, formal grid layouts common in other capital cities. This approach created the fluid, organic feel that visitors experience today as they walk along the shore of Lake Burley Griffin, where the architecture of the city seems to dissolve into the foliage. Today, the park stands as much more than a green space. It acts as a living gallery for public art, a venue for major national commemorations like the citizenship ceremonies, and the beating heart of the city during the annual Floriade festival. Every statue and monument, from the hidden tetrahedrons to the towering Captain Cook water jet, tells a piece of the Australian story, grounding this beautiful lakeside oasis firmly in the history and identity of the nation.