Franklin Building

The Franklin Building at the Australian National Botanic Gardens houses the Australian Biological Resources Survey (ABRS), which publishes the Flora of Australia and the Fauna of Australia as well as a range of other publishing and grant-giving activities.

The Building was named in honour of Sir John Franklin and his wife Lady Jane Franklin, both of whom fostered scientific endeavour in Australia during their stay in Tasmania, 1837-1843.

The link with Tasmania is significant as the Franklin Building is adjacient to two of the Tasmanian flora sections in the Botanic Gardens.

There is a second, less significant but interesting link, in that the logo of the ABRS incorporates a stylized representation of a platypus which the staff had nick-named 'Franklin' many years earlier when the proposed damming of the Franklin River in Tasmania was a controversial conservation issue.

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