AILA Award Dinner photos
SW1
Landscape Architect: Gamble McKinnon Green
The Jury applauds the level of dedication apparent in the exemplary design outcomes achieved at the SWI site, particularly given the complex nature of the site and diverse architectural typologies of this mixed-use project at South Bank. Gamble McKinnon Green’s SWI Project clearly demonstrates the considered application key principles of Australian Landscape Architecture at a highly professional level.
SWI represents a quality design outcome that is arguably unparalleled in any other ‘brownfield’ mixed-use development site within Brisbane and the broader region. It’s strong ‘sense of place’ and links to the natural landscape using endemic plant species and cultural heritage elements is highly commendable. The project’s level of stakeholder engagement, well-resolved ground plane design, commitment to design excellence and sustainability across all dimensions is this scheme’s standout attributes.
Throughout this project Gamble McKinnon Green has demonstrated strong leadership, innovation and a commitment to landscape architectural practice that not only promotes the values of the profession but also strengthens the role of the Landscape Architect as the key linking agent from the early phases of site planning and design through to detail design and project delivery.
DESIGN
Awards for Landscape Architecture
Bowen Foreshore Redevelopment
Landscape Architect: TRACT Consultants
The Bowen Foreshore Redevelopment is a standout project for its skilful design resolution and unification of a variety of disparate site activities and functions. The sensitive integration of existing landscape and historical features with contemporary elements is cleverly executed within a sequence of complementary landscape and building forms. The constraints of the elongated site have been easily overcome and turned into opportunities, one of the hallmarks of good design.
The brilliance of the project is its simultaneous appeal to both locals and visitors alike thereby facilitating the essential role of public space in nurturing social exchange. The hard and soft landscape treatments are very well controlled avoiding the all too common mistakes of contrivance and clutter in public realm design prevalent in other regional centres.
This is an exemplary design initiative deserving of wider acknowledgement because of its strong place qualities and its contemporary, engaging interpretation of the site’s rich heritage. The project’s client should be commended for their foresight in commissioning a project that has quickly realised its ambitious goals. It is hoped that it will be both an inspiration and benchmark for similar initiatives along other coastal foreshores
Robelle Domain Parklands
Landscape Architect: Vee Design
Vee Design demonstrates excellence in Landscape Architecture design in their Robelle Domain Parklands project. Strong landscape planning underpins the 20 hectare site design with well resolved references and connections to the project’s natural landscape setting, utilising key natural features that provide spaces for a diversity of formal and spontaneous activities as well as recreational opportunities.
Robelle Domain Parklands is well placed to realise the client’s brief for it to be a highly attractive community hub over time. It’s expansive spaces and multiple connections inviting new and existing residents to interact and the manner in which it ‘knits’ together the disparate parts of an ambitious master-planned development are its outstanding features.
The clever integration of water into the landscape is exemplary, promoting innovative approaches to social cohesion and community wellbeing, landscape design and land management. Vee Design has demonstrated a level of commitment and innovation with their design solution that is highly commendable that sets a benchmark for comparable projects.
(Residential)
Cypress Byron Bay
Landscape Architect: Gamble McKinnon Green
Cypress Byron Bay is an outstanding example of design harmony between landscape and architecture. Through the careful analysis of a fragile site and the resultant challenges, the landscape architects have skilfully retained and manipulated the natural features of topography and vegetation to create a series of private landscape spaces that draw upon and ‘borrow’ from their context.
Extraordinary attention to design detail and an understated treatment of both hard and soft landscape elements combine seamlessly to create a residential haven exuding visual serenity.
The early, influential involvement of the landscape architect at all phases of the Cypress project is evident and is a model for other similar residential projects where too often such insights are invited too late in the formative design process. This project is a worthy award recipient.
URBAN DESIGN
Award for Landscape Architecture
King George Square Redevelopment
Landscape Architect: URBIS
The Jury commend Urbis for the determination and professional skill evident in the many positive urban design outcomes achieved through their courageous redevelopment scheme for Brisbane’s King George Square. As the capital city’s premier civic space, the landscape architects have, in close collaboration with their client and a diverse consultant team, created a highly contemporary and functional public place which simultaneously respects the history of the Square while confidently redefining its character for a new generation of citizens to embrace.
Urbis’ design response adroitly meets the complex challenges posed by a demanding brief and site, including integration of public transport infrastructure, resolution of complex public access requirements and level changes, overcoming the constraints of a podium landscape and perhaps most significantly, achieving a fine balance between the competing requirements for hosting large public gatherings as well supporting the daily activities of its users so essential to the life of the city.
PLANNING
Queensland Landscape Architecture Award for Excellence
Bingara and the Living Classroom
Landscape Architect: JOHN MONGARD LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
‘Bingara and the Living Classroom’ is an exceptional example of the passion, sensitivity and skills of our profession being applied to planning for regional towns and centres. The jury noted the deep understanding of the place developed through this innovative process and applaud the community driven ‘bottom up’ approach to planning for the future of Bingara. It is obvious form the submission the success of this approach to planning in small regional communities.
John Mongard Landscape Architects have demonstrated through this commission, and through many similar successes, the importance of facilitating a community led approach to design. This allows all-important stakeholder and political buy in to the process of change and empowers regional communities to shape their collective future. The key aspects of this project that are worthy of special mention include the depth of engagement possible by basing the design team on the ‘main street’ for an extended period and the strong focus on the ongoing role of education in achieving the outcomes of the strategy.
Awards for Landscape Architecture
Cleveland Centre Master Plan
Landscape Architect: AECOM
The ‘Cleveland Centre Master Plan’ demonstrates excellence in the integration of landscape planning principles and values into a wider urban strategy. The master plan articulates clearly a focus on the public realm and emphasizes the importance of its coherence and quality to the success and amenity of Cleveland in the future.
The Jury noted the important role of landscape architects in contributing to the envisioning of a revitalized urban centre and the primary importance of the public realm as a key driver for positive and sustainable urban change.
The features of this piece of work that resonated with the values of the institute most include the concept of ‘living streets’ which emphasizes the need for flexible urban spaces that are able to fulfill practical as well as environmental and civic functions. The approach to integrating koala habit linkages within an established urban centre is also seen to be a major innovation for urban development.
North Gheran, Tripoli
Landscape Architect: CONRAD AND GARGETT
The master plan for ‘North Gheran’ in Tripoli demonstrates a compelling synthesis of analysis and creativity and offers a clear strategy that values landscape and its contribution to creating new urban communities that are both attractive and sustainable. The values of the local landscape are explicitly integrated into the overall development proposition and, once realized, will offer residents a legible, connected, and high quality setting for urban life.
Some of the notable features of this project include the clarity of presentation, the creation of a highly connected web of streets and spaces that link to major foreshore parks, and a clear attempt to reflect the cultural, landscape, and visual values of the place and its people.
RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATIONS
Award for Landscape Architecture
Darwin Forum 2010 “Conversations about Place”
Landscape Architect: TRACT
The “Conversations about Place” forum and outcome document remind us of the integral importance of the core values of connection with people and place in professional practice, engaged design processes and successful outcomes.
The ‘conversation’ is a metaphor for ‘action’ research. The methodology utilizes an inclusive and active process owned by all participants, to hone their communication, listening and observational skills and to engender on-going commitment to professional growth through collaboration and deeper understandings of ‘sustainability’ through exploration of past, present and future experiences of place.
The application of a consistent theme of collaboration throughout the process from pre-forum preparations, to the conduct of the forum, and the learning’s from the forum, offers an exemplary and robust methodology for practices and practitioners to take into future planning and development projects.
LAND MANAGEMENT
Queensland Landscape Architecture Award for Excellence
Fairway Chase Linear Park
Landscape Architect: AECOM
The Fairway Chase Linear Park showcases the transformation of a landscape denuded by previous pastoral uses into a new ‘socio-ecological’ parkland typology. The jury was particularly impressed by the ambitiously scaled and successfully executed water sensitive urban design program for the park and the complex mosaic of wet and ephemeral landscapes this has created intermixed with active and passive recreational spaces.
The submission demonstrated a strong commitment by the Landscape Architect to integrated planning and design whereby physical sciences knowledge has been successfully captured. The jury also considered worthy of mention the role of the developer Stockland and the Moreton Bay Regional Council for support of the vision. By challenging traditional open space planning and design orthodoxy, Fairway Chase Linear Park shows us an exciting new urban parkland typology that contributes to a reduction in urban ‘ecological footprint’ and an increase in ‘social capital’ for more sustainable living.
Awards for Landscape Architecture
Lake McKenzie
Landscape Architect: AECOM
AECOM’s re-development of the visitor precinct at Lake McKenzie (or K’gari as it is known by the local indigenous Butchulla people) demonstrates design sensitivity to place and cultural and biodiversity context. A world heritage listed environmental asset, Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island was literally being ‘loved to death’ by visitors with and ever expanding disturbance ‘footprint’ impacting on key sustaining ecological systems.
The brief here was to deliver a pragmatic master plan response to the expanding area of ecological disturbance whilst improving the efficiency and utility of visitor facilities and with all built and environmental works to be implementable by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service officers. The jury agreed the AECOM design delivers on this brief in a contextually appropriate way with understated design interventions using locally derived materials that seek to subtly contain human activity within areas specifically pre-armoured to accommodate both vehicle and foot traffic.
An outcome worthy of note was the return of more than 0.5ha of previously disturbed land to full ecological function thereby reducing the total area required for visitor facilities from 1.9ha to 1.4ha. At Lake McKenzie, AECOM have shown that context is all important and that ‘less is best’ when the context is so profoundly beautiful.
Doonella Noosa
Landscape Architect: AECOM
Doonella Noosa is a residential estate located within and adjacent areas of native woodland on the edge of Lake Doonella. One is immediately prompted to question the legitimacy of locating a residential estate in such a setting. AECOM’s response to the sensitivities of the site however is a study in how the traditional urban street and allotment orthodoxy can be re-modelled to work with the natural capital of the site rather than compete with it.
At Doonella, AECOM has demonstrated deep understanding of land management practices through interpretation and characterisation of the landscape. The resultant Landscape Management Report, generated early in the life of the project, has subsequently guided all urban design, engineering and landscape design outcomes.
The jury was particularly impressed by how the intrinsic values of the site’s natural capital has been captured and exploited in the design and delivery of the early base infrastructure at Doonella Noosa without compromising on core ecological values and functions. The final built outcome at Doonella Noosa has much to live up to and the jury trusts the early good work is continued through the full lifecycle of development.
FUTURE LEADER AWARD
Queensland Landscape Architect Future Leader Award
Amy Saunders