Winner: James Mather Delaney Design Pty Ltd

In Partnership With: Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects and City of Sydney

Project: Paddington Reservoir Gardens, Paddington, Sydney

 

One of Sydney’s newest public spaces, the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, situated on Oxford Street in the heart of urban Sydney, is quickly gaining national and international recognition for its unique blend of historic ruin and contemporary urban park design. 

The site has evolved over a period of 140 years, hosting a number of disparate uses, including 20 years as a water supply reservoir, the original use, through to council depot and workshop, petrol station and more recently a simple grassed public park. With the collapse of the roof structure in 1991, the site was closed to public access. The decision not to simply cap off the site and make another grassed lawn triggered an opportunity to explore the possibilities of revealing and working with the ruins. The result is this engaging, multi-layered urban space that allows visitors to move through and among the spaces and be immersed in the heritage of the Reservoir.

The jury admired the rich interplay of elements—built and natural—that express and interpret the site’s diverse heritage, conserving it for contemporary use and for use by future generations. The success of the project clearly results from a close collaborative and integrated design process between JMD Design and architects, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, working with the City of Sydney. From a landscape architecture perspective, the jury appreciated the sensitively selected material palette for structural elements and the clarity of the three planting zones of the Gardens: ranging from the rooftop garden, the two “rooms” of the sunken garden, and the street level edge that connects back into the Paddington urban precinct.

This is clearly an exceptional and superbly realised project of outstanding merit. The jury was unanimous in awarding it the Medal for Landscape Architecture for 2010.

NATIONAL AWARD OF EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN

Recipient:Taylor Cullity Lethlean

Project: Darlington Public Domain Stage Two, University of Sydney

This project evolved from TCL’s ‘Fertile Ground’ entry to the University of Sydney’s Campus 2010 international design competition for reimagining the public domain of the campus. 

Conceptually drawn from the site’s indigenous and colonial history and the university’s built heritage, the design’s clear and bold gestures are restrained in its remaking and reorienting of campus spaces. In addition, to enhance movement and repose, the project integrates new gardens for teaching and research with bioretention systems and a 150,000L water storage tank.

The jury appreciated the creation a hierarchy of spaces and the careful selection of tree species for the planting design that promises to evolve into a particularly beautiful campus space over the coming years. In collaboration with artist Paul Carter, the landscape construction enjoys a subtle and delightful patina, of sandblasted patterning, and the addition of custom-designed seating serve as “follies” situated in a eucalyptus grove. Overall the scheme’s attention to careful detailing and high quality construction delivers a beautifully resolved public space.

NATIONAL AWARD OF EXCELLENCE IN LAND MANAGEMENT

Recipient:AECOM

Project: Rouse Hill Landscape Restoration, Sydney

This project exemplifies the recognition of large scale open space in new developments to function as green infrastructure.

The New Rouse Hill, developing in the Northwest Growth Sector of Sydney, will continue to put great strain on stormwater management in particular. In an effort to create resilient, healthy and functioning landscape that connects residents to their public open space resource and that will also serve as the central stormwater management system in the new community AECOM worked with the developer to create this landscape restoration project.

The work AECOM carried out includes experimental plots for monitoring plant performance for a broad acre approach to landscape restoration which presents an alternative to mass planting practices. Research will continue to monitor various dimensions of how the project’s environmental systems continue to perform. Furthermore, the project is an exemplar for the capacity of natural bush communities to co-exist with dense urban development.

NATIONAL AWARD OF EXCELLENCE IN URBAN DESIGN

Recipient: Oculus Landscape Architecture & Urban Design

Project: Rouse Hill Town Centre, Sydney

This project resets the benchmark for new development that mixes retail with commercial, residential and community uses in a well-articulated, pedestrian-dominant town centre. 

The success of the project was enabled by the close collaboration between three architectural practices and the landscape architects, working in a collective and interactive manner to deliver an integrated ensemble of buildings, public realm, landscape and environment systems.

The landscape architects’ contribution is evident in the spatial shaping of key plazas and detailing of the pedestrian circulation spaces with a bold planting palette and clever, custom-designed elements. Rouse Hill Town Centre employs best practice principles of town centre design resulting in correctly scaled, civic qualities suitable for its setting in northwest Sydney.

The jury was also impressed with the fundamental attention to integrating climate control measures, reduction of water use and energy consumption.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR DESIGN

Recipient:AECOM

Project: Southport Broadwater Parklands, Gold Coast, Queensland

The Awards Jury felt the Southport Broadwater Parklands project represents a ‘new look’ Gold Coast.

Funded through the Q150 Legacy Infrastructure Program, the masterplanning and first stage of construction has delivered a project of big sweep that has the potential to become one of Australia’s great foreshore parks. AECOM’s design generates a robust and sustainable framework within which activities will happen and has created active connections to a re-activated green waterfront.

The attention to ecosystem preservation and sustainable design ticked all the boxes on the AILA Climate Change case studies as assessed against AILA principles, and stands as an exemplar for future practice in the development of public space in this area of the country, that continues to withstand the pressures of population growth and increasing visitor numbers.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR DESIGN

Recipient:Convic Design Pty Ltd

Project: Geelong Youth Activities Area, Geelong, Victoria

This new section of edgy, energized waterfront located on the main water’s edge in the heart of Geelong’s CBD presents a bold and inclusive, anything-but-passive public open space. 

Designed to attract Geelong’s young people to the waterfront and also ‘forge intergenerational social networks’, the jury was convinced this is a unique urban public space that succeeds in connecting and giving back to the community. At first glance, it looks like an area for skateboarding, but with its series of terraced levels, it is in fact a cascade of variably sized spaces inherently adaptable for multiple future uses.

The jury applauds the focus on social sustainability and the City of Geelong’s commitment to attracting active young people into this prominent shared public space.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR DESIGN

Recipient: Gamble McKinnon Green

Project: Pioneer Park, Townsville Riverway, Townsville, Queensland

The jury was pleased with the manner in which this project presented a “distinctively Townsville” approach, and represented a positive direction for Townsville in redeveloping this precinct, eschewing the temptation to redeveloping this unique top-end city in a generic urban style. 

Beautiful integration of existing mature trees and selection of endemic plants, gives the project good environmental credentials, as well as good social benefits, further enriched with the integration of a local arts program. The park’s development responds to recreation needs of this city and importantly, provides public access to water for swimming, at no charge.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR DESIGN

Recipient:McGregor Coxall

Project: Ballast Point Park, Sydney

Ballast Point Park is one of the latest examples of the contemporary reclaiming of harbour open space in Sydney, located on the Birchgrove Peninsula.

A 2.8ha former industrial lubricant production site with a rich heritage linking it to pre-colonial use by Aboriginal people, the site takes its name from the quarry operations of the late 1800s that supplied ship ballast. Working with fundamental principles of remediation and sustainable design, the resulting design resisted taking a “clean slate” approach to industrial land remediation, allowing the expression of its many layers of history to be revealed while creating a contemporary and robust park of regional significance that is locally used.

The jury applauded the creative approach to reusing materials on site and admired the level of skill and coordination of players involved—from dealing with a lack of geotechnical information to revising design directions when new opportunities revealed themselves on site, eg the discovery of the foundations of a harbourfront villa. McGregor Coxall’s design elaborates the masterplan developed by Anton James Design in cooperation with Context and CAB Consulting.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR DESIGN

Recipient:Taylor Cullity Lethlean

Project: Lartelare, Ethelton, Adelaide

This project presents an exemplary consultation process with the local Aboriginal community and in particular with the Brodie family who are specifically connected to this site.

This underpins the creation of a culturally meaningful design, in the largest public open space within a new urban residential development in Ethelton, South Australia.

The jury sincerely compliments all involved—the landscape architects, local councils and developers—for their commitment to this dimension of the project. Interpretation of the site’s heritage and local significance, selection of endemic plantings, design and crafting of specific site elements, and the skillful sculpting of landform, planting masses and circulation have generated a space of noteworthy sensitivity and gentleness that sits in welcome contrast to the more contemporary, urban qualities of the built form. The inclusion of a green industry training scheme in this initiative delivers significant social benefits that complement the attention to sustainable design and construction practices.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR LAND MANAGEMENT

Recipient:Material Landscape Architecture

Project: Nungatta Station Land Management Program

This wide reaching land management program for a 5,000ha cattle station in southeast New South Wales, gained the jury’s admiration for its demonstration of the scientific underpinning of landscape architectural practice.

Working to optimize rural land management, it also heralds a commitment to a new way of land management for rural land holders that relies on a close understanding of the natural systems inherent in the property, and also bravely faces the reality of needing to find other means of value generation beyond cattle grazing.

The jury was impressed with the Management Plan’s comprehensive approach, illustrated through the mapping and analysis of many different environmental factors and the application of the ideas supporting broad environment values through weed control, planting of some 600ha of eucalyptus plantation and commitment to the protection of 118 ha of Endangered Ecological Communities.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR PLANNING

Recipient:AECOM

Project: Parramatta Laneways & Small Spaces Project: Urban Design Principles

This project assists Parramatta City Council of NSW in celebrating and rediscovering the historic fine grain of its city in order to attract and accommodate new commercial investment. 

The Jury noted the effectiveness of this overtly “proponent approach”. It is one in which the consultants have helped Council articulate a vision for “what we want to see happen” and create a robust framework within which to attract and evaluate improvements to the urban fabric of the city. This approach has identified a number of “catalyst projects” that demonstrate the possibilities to councillors and, importantly, to developers.

The Jury was impressed with the level of detail and reflection of local character illustrated in the documents that will inspire future design proposals for key locations throughout Parramatta.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR PLANNING

Recipients:ASPECT Studios, Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects with The City of Sydney

Project: The Former Water Police Site/Pirrama Park Master Plan, Sydney

The masterplan for this new harbourfront park was born out of extensive community consultation and established the principles for developing a new public parkland on ground that had originally been earmarked for residential development.

The site knits together two previously developed park spaces on the peninsula—Gibba Park and Pyrmont Point Park—and is in a strategic location for providing a link in the 14km network of waterfront open space. Close study of the history of the harbor shoreline, overlaying historic drawings on contemporary survey plans, was the working methodology for generating the plan’s spatial definition.

The masterplan works with many layers of site history, peeling back and interpreting multiple narratives within a contemporary context. It sets the framework for a robust design response that speaks to sustainable design principles and incorporates subtly integrated water sensitive urban design systems, alternative energy supply, reused materials and elements and over 150 new trees endemic to Pyrmont Peninsula.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR PLANNING

Recipient:Hansen Partnership Pty Ltd

Project: ViengXay Town Master Plan 2026, Lao PDR

The planning and design process and resulting strategy developed in the course of this international project was considered by the jury to be an exemplar of working in-country in a culturally sensitive and respectful manner. .

Working side by side with Lao colleagues in a capacity building process, the consultants helped identify community challenges and articulate concerns about retaining the essence of the local heritage while recognizing the need to plan for future development. The resulting master plan respects the socio-political history of the town of ViengXay along with its remarkable landscape context and, while at first glance appearing to somewhat ‘basic’, was considered to be appropriate to provide a feasible outcome for this local council to adopt and work with.

The jury was impressed with the project scope that assisted in knowledge transfer between client and consultant, around the issues of sustainable practice and cultural heritage management. As always in these projects, there is much to be learned on both sides of the table and the Hansen Partnership has been successful in facilitating this two-way of learning.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR PLANNING

Recipient:HASSELL Ltd

Project: Darwin Waterfront Master Plan

The jury was impressed with this project because it was felt to present a “quantum shift”. 

HASSELL’s master plan for the Darwin waterfront re-conceptualises its relationship to the city, extends city street patterns to a new harbourfront precinct while also reflecting Darwin’s unique cultural and landscape heritage.

The scheme manages to maintain a strong community focus by providing democratic access to the foreshore, while also creating opportunities for private development which will introduce new commercial and residential development into this area of the city, with interspersed public and private spaces. This is in contrast to other residential developments in this area of Darwin that tend to become residential enclaves rather than mixed-use, more urban precincts. The proposed arrangement of buildings demonstrate a site-specific response to climate and local weather patterns, and allow a breeze-catching capacity deep into the site.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR PLANNING

Recipients:McGregor Coxall

Project: Mildura Riverfront

This project represents a strong local response to the national water problem that acknowledges flooding potential and processes while proposing a inventive framework for connecting Mildura’s CBD with the Murray River. 

The consultants have generated a thorough and evocative design vision for an area of 24ha—16ha of which are targeted for public parklands. New development, including commercial and residential, cultural and convention centres, will provide the basis for economic growth and animate the riverfront with a program of contemporary uses.

Proposed design approaches reference the history of Indigenous and European patterns of use along the river and the agricultural heritage of the region. Design proposals that form part of the planning document indicate a robust response to flooding, drainage, waterfront issues in this rural NSW city, but are suggestive of how the community of this regional city will be able to engage with its riverfront.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR URBAN DESIGN

Recipient:City Design, Brisbane City Council

Project: Brisbane Foreshore Parklands, Brisbane

The jury enthusiastically endorsed this project moving into the Urban Design category of the awards. 

This is recognition of the way in which the long-term commitment by the City of Brisbane to a vision of connecting public open space along the Brisbane Foreshore into the foreshore parklands of Morton Bay. This gives the riverfront a shape and definition to this edge of the city. While it contains a number of discrete, local projects it is not merely a chain of parks along Morton Bay.

The Parklands project has been conceived with clear forward thinking and commitment of significant financial resources, with the intent of creating an urban-scale edge that reconnects with the city’s seaside edge. The implemented projects have enhanced recreation and residential development opportunities along Morton Bay generating social, cultural and economic benefits, while protecting and strengthening natural, scenic and cultural values of this stretch.

The Jury applauds Council for its commitment and stamina to seeing this project through as it is one that will be of enduring value for the City of Brisbane.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR URBAN DESIGN

Recipient:Spackman Mossop Michaelsin collaboration with BVN and the City of Sydney

Project: Redfern Park Upgrade

The jury’s decision to move this project to the Urban Design category was based on the view that it is an outstanding example of how a smaller scale urban intervention can, in fact, impact and re-shape an urban precinct.

With the reconfiguration of the football stadium and the lowering of the playing field, significant three-dimensional changes were produced in the relationship of the park to its surrounding context. With these moves, the designers were able to re-establish locally significant vistas and axes, shifting the visual and physical access into and throughout the park, setting up new patterns of movement and social interaction into and throughout the park spaces.

The jury believed this is surely what urban design is about. Collaboration with renowned Aboriginal artist Fiona Foley in the design of a playground feature links the contemporary social identity of Redfern with the Aboriginal heritage of the site, bolstering the social benefits of the park.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR RESEARCH & COMMUNICATION

Recipient:HASSELL Ltd

Project: Placesforme

This project recognizes and embraces the power of social networking and use of communication technology to invite public commentary and suggestions for the design of their built environments.

Initiated as an experiment within the Young Designers Group of HASSELL’s Perth studio,www.placesforme.inforepresents a means for the profession to invite the public to initiate the discussion about public space up front, and not simply respond/react to specific proposals.

The jury was excited about this as a prototype for exploring collaborative and potentially more accessible public participation, one that is not so time and place specific. In particular, “placesforme” presents an ideal platform for enabling young people to have a louder voice.

NATIONAL AWARD FOR RESEARCH & COMMUNICATION

Recipients:JMD Designand Landcom

Project: Landcom Street Tree Design Guidelines

Landcom, the NSW state agency for new residential, commercial and industrial development, is committed to achieving industry best practice in urban design and sustainable design practice.

To meet their aim of improving in-house capacity of their development managers, a suite of documents have been prepared that address various aspects of project planning, design and development. This suite of six guidelines documents comprises a declaration of Landcom’s expectations in “how we do things”.

In addition to addressing their internal audience, the guidelines are also used to facilitate discussions with councils, joint venture partners and consultants. JMD’s authorship of the Street Tree Design Guidelines giving importance to trees on the street – starts with the premise that street trees are essential!

NATIONAL AWARD FOR RESEARCH & COMMUNICATION

Recipient:Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales

Project: Beyond the Pavement: Urban Design Policy, Procedures & Design Principles

The Roads & Traffic Authority of NSW, with its own in-house landscape architecture and urban design expertise, has been at the vanguard of promoting high quality approach to roadway design for over 10 years. 

The first edition of Beyond the Pavement in 1999 broke new ground in taking the position that the design of urban infrastructure associated with roads, bridges, cycleways and bus projects was to be assessed against urban design principles. The guidelines were highly significant as they were embedded in NSW Government policy for all RTA projects, from planning through implementation.

The 10th anniversary update of that original document was produced by the RTA’s Urban Design Section which comprises landscape architects, architects and planners. The material in this new edition evolved from a period of project review, reflection on the results, and revision and trialling of improved processes.

Ongoing research and development, such as for noise wall design and ‘self-explaining road environments’, continues to strengthen landscape architects’ and urban designers’ involvement in RTA projects.