Our cities and regions are thriving, and landscape architects are an integral part of ensuring design thinking deploys real impact. This years awards continue to demonstrate the breadth of work of landscape architectural practice and research, and the influence the profession has in leading the creation of high performing, meaningful and beautiful spaces that support the health and well-being of our communities. We commend the inspiring leadership shown by landscape architects been able to take big thinking and enact this locally to create change.

 

Many awarded projects displayed evidence of a research component which provides further rigour to built outcomes. Notably, the jury were impressed that green infrastructure, across the country, is becoming imbedded into projects as the norm. Collectively, the awarded projects provide a clear message of sensitive, thoughtful and ambitious responses to repairing and improving natural systems of unique Australia landscapes at a time of increasing urbanisation and climate variation.

Finally, many of the awarded projects demonstrate clear results with the engagement of local communities with several of the projects exemplifiers of landscape architects working with Aboriginal communities. This is timely, with the appointment of Aboriginal landscape architect Paul Herzich (Kurna/Ngarrindjeri) to the national jury and the adoption of AILAs first Reconciliation Action Plan in 2018, this way of working, cross-culturally, towards the co-production of knowledge must become central to the work that landscape architects do.

The jury commends all the awarded projects for their engaging, forward thinking, challenging and successful demonstration of thinking, leadership and results. Collectively, they demonstrate the profession having a clear agenda to influence the supressing issues that government still struggles to deal with. These projects provide the profession with momentum to continue to advocate for and demand excellence in built environment outcomes for the communities and natural environments that are essential to our identity within this place.

Sara Padgett Kjaersgaard

AILA National Jury Chair

Award of Excellence 2018

Bungarribee at Doonside

JMD Design

This project succeeds in creating a transformational parkland that artfully integrates play into the natural landscape. Connecting paths invite you to explore the natural landscape of the grassland and the creek which is repaired and given prominence. The design frames and celebrates the existing natural landscape allowing the visitor to appreciate the striking landscape of the grasslands, the big open sky and distant views whilst hinting at the pastoral and industrial past of the site.


The over-scaled, play features are sculptural landmarks that create iconic gathering spaces that are subtly connected to the industrial objects from nearby. The park provides a substantial new typology of open space for western Sydney that includes inspiring places to play and socialize whilst revealing the cultural past and restoring the natural qualities of the place.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Alpine Better Places

MDG LA’s



This series of small projects have transformed the visitor experience for this town within the Victorian High Country. Through listening to the local community and businesses, the design team has developed a vision for the place and has delivered a ‘reason to stop’.

The project transforms this section of the historic Great Alpine Road by reclaiming over 2500m2 of road for parklands and space for business and introducing strategically positioned furniture and shelter to allow appreciation of the town and the alpine setting. Extensive consultation helped unite the community and ensured the project reflects the history and values of the place.

The jury commends the use of local natural materials and the care and sensitivity in the detailing of the structures. The project engages with the identity of the place and helps to lift the profile of the town, it is a promising start and shows the ability of landscape architects to help the community to revitalise and reposition rural townships.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Rockhampton Riverside

Urbis


This project provides a new focus for Rockhampton which helps reconnect the city to the river by providing a sequence of hard and soft landscapes connected into one seamless pedestrian environment.

A variety of scales and types of landscapes provide a flexible series of social spaces that invite multiple uses and stimulate outdoor activity. The high-quality materials and detailing and successful integration of art, technology and play create a vibrant robust urban waterfront.


This project reconnects the town to the river, it provides high quality places to dwell and will bring long term economic benefits to the local area.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Oaklands Park and Wetland

TCL

This project clearly shows the benefits landscape architects can bring when they lead green infrastructure projects. At the heart of the project is a functional wetland which harvests 500 Megalitres of water from the Sturt River for use in irrigation of 30 other open spaces and for groundwater recharge.

Through sensitive design the landscape architects have integrated the wetland into the site topography, retaining existing trees and maximising ecological values. A connecting path circuit allows visitors to interact with a mix of formal and natural landscape spaces.

The project is commended for the restraint and creation of diverse, immersive landscape spaces. This project demonstrates a high level of collaboration between the Council, its partners and the landscape architect to create valuable piece of green infrastructure that provides a treasured space for the community to relax and explore nature.

Award of Excellence 2018

Optus Stadium Park

HASSELL 


In this project, success is demonstrated by the landscape architects’ vision to deliver the extraordinary extensive play spaces within the parkland setting of the new Optus Stadium located on Burswood peninsula.

Never before has such an impressive, all-encompassing play space been on offer in Perth, incorporating a collection of play areas to appeal to all ages, while broadening their appreciation of nature, culture and diversity.

Extensive engagement with the local indigenous community and others has led to the inclusion of six zones, representing the local Indigenous Noongar seasons. Each zone incorporates different plants, local materials, nature-play themes, art and educational signage in interesting and diverse ways.

The jury were impressed by the significant contribution this play space provides for the children and youth of Perth. The result is an entirely new destination play space that embraces local knowledge and understanding of place.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Mukanthi Nature Playspace

Peter Semple landscape architects (PSLA) & Climbing Tree Creations in collaboration with indigenous artist Allan Sumner

 



The Mukanthi Playspace at Morialta has transformed an underutilised part of the Morialta Conservation Park into a significant community facility that encourages physical activity, exploration, adventure and imagination, while fostering valuable connections to nature. The design approach integrates the new facility seamlessly into the existing site and encourages broader exploration and a greater connection to celebrate and legitimise the existing natural play experiences.


The success of the project is a reflection of the process undertaken by the design team, which involved extensive community and stakeholder consultation, including innovative engagement with children, and benchmarking against global precedents. This also included a strategic approach to the location of play destinations within the site based on vegetation, topography and existing amenities and natural play experiences.


Collaboration with Kaurna elders and an Indigenous artist, Allan Sumner, has delivered genuine inclusion of Indigenous cultural narratives, through the sculptural play elements and the introduction of Indigenous language, providing another layer to the project and an opportunity for all users to gain a greater understanding of and respect for Indigenous heritage and culture. Also of note, is the project’s strong economic sustainability approach, which included designing and fabricating all play elements within a 50km radius of the site, helping to diversify play space construction techniques in South Australia. 

Landscape 

Architecture Award 2018

Ballum Bumps Regional Play Space

Playce Pty Ltd


The Ballam Bumps Regional Playspace is awarded because it is a generous design that pushes the expectations about who a playground is for and how it can be used. This playground celebrates the need for play in an unstructured way, and caters for all age groups from toddlers to adults. It embraces the need for a regional recreational resource, incorporating parkour, skate park, bouldering and ball sports provision. It is both robust and understated and simply suburban in its presentation. It isn’t over curated and is sure to be a focus for imaginative play of all age groups.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Ian Potter Children’s WILDPLAY Garden

ASPECT Studios 

On an undulating hillside within Centennial Park one enters a secret garden in which the play elements merge with the landscape setting, creating a journey of discovery for children and their families. It breaks out of the usual paradigm in which the play structures stand in isolation for children to play whilst the parents sit around the periphery. The inventive, site specific play elements are made of natural materials. They include a tree house and climbing structure with a slippery slide, water-play ponds and fountains, bamboo tunnels and maze-like spaces, timber beam balance structures arranged to represent the Centennial Park eel.


The rich and diverse planting that define the sequence of spaces is layered to give a sense of enclosure and changing perspectives for small children and adults. It also provides a place for environmental education: an important and innovative dimension in playground design. The setting for informal play also provides attractive, shaded family picnic areas. Such an extraordinary achievement would not have been possible without the close collaboration with Centennial Parklands and the Foundation.

Award of Excellence 2018

Darebin Yarra Trail Link

VicRoads Urban Design Team and VicRoads Structural Design Team 


The Darebin Yarra Trail Link is an exciting and beautifully executed project. The leadership, vision and dedication of a multidisciplinary team have delivered an iconic infrastructure project that is an exemplar for Australia. This project is the result of 25 years of community advocacy. Set in a complex and environmentally sensitive location, the project clearly involved extensive collaboration with adjoining property holders and other stakeholders. The 2.7km shared user trail provides a vital missing link in a network of more than 600km of metropolitan off-road trails.

The hand of the landscape architects is evident in the detail, integration and beauty of this infrastructure. The link is highly effective in promoting active transport while the design sensitively integrates the constructed elements with the environment. The trail link achieves a wonderful visual rhythm through the landscape. The thought and imagination that the design team put into this are evident in beautifully constructed infrastructure that achieves maximum community benefit with minimal environmental impact.



Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Skeleton Creek Bridges 

Site Office

The Skeleton Creek Bridges project is testimony to what landscape architects can offer. The Council's initial preference was a standard procurement process using off-the-shelf components. There was also skepticism that landscape architects should be the principal designer and project lead, which usually is done by engineers or architects. The designers showed leadership in convincing Council that bridges designed specifically for the environmentally sensitive setting could offer similar value for money, but deliver better environmental, functional and aesthetic results.

What could have been an uninspiring generic pair of bridges now provides high-quality shared user paths for communities either side of the creek in the fast-growing suburb of Truganina. A light-touch approach to design and construction has created essential connecting infrastructure while minimising the visual and environmental impacts. The elegant, understated bridges sit beautifully in the landscape.

Award of Excellence 2018 

Plant Bank

360 Degrees Landscape Architects


The Plant Bank is a research institute, seed repository and public building set amongst the Australian Botanic Gardens at Mount Annan in the south-western suburbs of Sydney. The seed bank is the largest collection of plant seeds in the country, storing over 100 million seeds from representative of 20% of Australia’s flora. The landscape design reinforces this and serves as an outstanding reminder of the value of native flora in maintaining landscape systems and community identity as significant component of cultural heritage.

The landscape architects have ensured the seamless integration with the building and beautifully reinforced the objectives of conserving seed for the future. An explorative and imaginative use of materials, especially the paving inlays and the mirrored under croft elevates this important cultural project to an exceptional level.

The project demonstrates a unique collaboration between the consultant and the client for the duration of the project, one where thinking and leadership were respectfully elevated to achieve this impressive result. The vision of the client, the horticultural staff and the landscape architect involved should be commended for delivering this important project for Australia


Landscape Architecture Award 2018 

Railway Square 

Place Laboratory 



Railway Square is set amongst twentieth century industrial buildings and demonstrates an innovative approach to the adaptive re-use of rail corridor land.

The jury was impressed about how the project successfully celebrated the history of the area while reflecting the past and looked towards the future. The response is clear and what is distilled in the project, is a narrative of the post-industrial area that considers both day and night community occupation.

The outcome of the project clearly communicates the relationship between the landscape architect and the stakeholders have ensured this project is successful as the area continues to regenerate and gentrify

Landscape Architecture Award 2018 

Point Napean National Park 

Taylor Cullity Lethlean 



The Point Nepean National Park Master Plan is set on a 560-hectare landscape at the narrowest tip of the Mornington Peninsula, this master plan is a beautiful and sensitive way to build upon and strengthen a sense of community.

The landscape architects have shown leadership in collaborating and developing the precinct in conjunction with Aboriginal Traditional Owners and Parks Victoria. The engagement with Traditional Owners and Country clearly supports the shared, co-interpretation of traditional cultural narratives, European settlement and Australian defence force connections with the landscape.

Overall the jury felt that the master plan provides a good foundation for the site and displayed leadership qualities that will foresee an excellent directional framework for the investment and the visitor experience within the park.

Award of Excellence 2018

Living Knowledge Stream

Syrinx Environmental

 


Songlines connect places to people and informs us how to sustain ourselves in someone else's Country. This in-depth and impactful study for Curtin University, interprets two songlines and integrates indigenous knowledge into meaningful design outcomes for all people.


The design team have created an exemplary standard for design guidance that successfully encompasses the social, cultural, physical, and spiritual elements that determine community and environmental wellbeing. The landscape architects and client are to be commended for their broad vision to reveal the richness of the local ecological and cultural landscape that will ultimately underpin an exceptional contemporary university culture.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

HOTA

CUSP, TOPOTEK1 and ARM Architecture 


The Home of the Arts Outdoor Stage (HOAT) is an exciting first phase of the Gold Coast Cultural Precinct masterplan. Literally wrapped in a landscape, the outdoor stage celebrates the local climate and context and provides new opportunities for congregation and celebration.

It successfully demonstrates how open space can foster public life. The seamless integration of landscape and architecture is testament to the effective partnership between client, community and the multi-disciplinary design team. The outdoor stage makes a valuable contribution to the community and is a significant drawcard for local, national and international visitors.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Maravista 

CUSP

 

The Maravista Plantation masterplan celebrates food tourism, landscape and sustainability by bringing good site planning and design principles to this private rural landholding. The design team have thoughtfully captured the client’s vision and passion for innovation, while balancing the social, economic and environmental challenges of an evolving tourism industry. This project demonstrates the value of the landscape architecture profession working in new ways to define landscapes for food production, education and eco-tourism.

Award of Excellence 2018

OPTUS Stadium and Stadium Park 

HASSELL 

The Perth Stadium precinct has transformed a previously underutilised site into a vibrant community precinct and new gateway to the city of Perth. The urban design strategy and project ethos has centered on establishing a people-focused place that reflects the community, cultural and environmental attributes unique to Western Australia.


Significant site constraints relating to flooding, contamination, settlement and access have been skillfully resolved. Internal zones have been defined by three overarching themes – waterfront, parkland and land – reflective of the natural and cultural context of the site, which has guided the form, character and planting of each space. The resultant design feels more parkland then sports precinct, re-establishing the space as an important meeting place for the region.

The pragmatic design ties the new precinct with its surrounds via an integrated transport strategy focused primarily on public transport and legible pedestrian connections. The site is flexible and caters well for both event and non-event activities and promotes a healthy active and social lifestyle for the broader city and the future adjacent development sites.

The jury commended the project for the collaboration with Indigenous working groups in the precinct design which is evident in the broader landscape gestures, commissioned artworks and inspired nature play spaces of the precinct. The design process and delivered works are an exemplar for ongoing revitalisation projects within the city context.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Fish Lane

RPS

Through a series of purposeful interventions, Fish Lane has transformed a previously neglected back-street into a vibrant urban experience celebrating Brisbane’s unique lifestyle as an outdoor city. The urban design study developed in collaboration between landscape architect, client and council provided a framework for private and public interests to deliver a shared vision for a new urban precinct.

The laneway is now a safe and legible pedestrian space linking the cultural hub of South Bank through to the densifying suburb of West End. The original grungy, urban character unique to the backstreets of this part of town is retained and exemplified through carefully placed interventions along its length. New niche retail and dining provide selected active edges, while new seating, lighting and way-finding enable the space to be populated throughout the day and into the evening. The urban setting provides a canvas that showcases local artists and provides interest and curiosity along the length of Fish Lane.


Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Victoria Square Kerang

Hansen Partnership 

The landscape architect’s subtle urban renewal approach to Victoria Square, Kerang, has been underpinned by an awareness and sensitivity to 'localness’, with a goal of re-establishing the center of this regional town as a place of civic pride and community gathering.

The design interventions are well considered, restrained and sensitively integrated. This ‘peeling back’ of underutilised infrastructure and materials, and reorientation of the pedestrian experience around the historic civic landmarks, help restrain and mitigate a vehicle dominated main street and shift the way the community perceive and use the space.

The jury commended the project for the subtle interventions and the use of high-quality materials and execution of the works, whilst re-establishing the civic heart of this regional centre. This delivery of this urban renewal project is a meaningful shift in attitudes in relation to public open space and urban identity and is considered an exemplar for the revitalisation of other regional towns.

Award of Excellence 2018

Chain of Ponds

Site Office 


The Chain of Ponds Action Plan illustrates an extraordinary achievement of highlighting the real issues faced by the restoration of the somewhat mistreated Moonee Ponds creek line.

The action plan is a comprehensive and sophisticated approach that recognises the creek line system as a necessary piece of blue infrastructure that supports the empowerment of the community’s vision, structure, purpose and future.

The action plan, led by Site Office, builds upon previous analytical studies of the creek line and provides the opportunity to inform and influence others, including governments with clear holistic views of strategic planning and management for the benefit of the creek line, its flora, fauna and community towards 2050 and beyond.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Southern Parklands Vision 

Turf Design Studio and Environmental Partnership

The Southern Parklands Vision 2036 demonstrates excellent leadership and sustainable outcomes for ‘Sydney’s Biggest Backyard’, consisting of some 1500 hectares, which is 28% of Sydney’s parklands.

The jury valued that the landscape architect led all aspects of the project and with stakeholder consultation, developed a founding set of solid principles to inform and guide future planning and decision making for the enhancement of the parkland corridor and the adjacent inter-connected areas.


The vision has proven to be a step in the right direction, as it has been used to inform and influence parliamentary decision making with the re-alignment of the M12 Motorway Link. The vision has the capabilities to positively address the growing community and their future interactions with the parklands as well as provide a strong landscape framework for future implementation planning opportunities.

The Jury would also like to acknowledge the innovative approaches to research currently being undertaken around the country and appreciate that although still in their infancy, the potential for exciting and fresh additions to the profession through these mediums are an exciting prospect.


Award of Excellence 2018

Green Infrastructure National Green Network

Simon Kilbane 


The panel was struck by this novel landscape architectural design-based exploration of the spatial implications of environmental policy and ecological theory objectives that aim to safeguard Australia’s biodiversity. The project is big in both scale and ambition and pushes the established boundaries of the profession utilising a flexible research methodology that is applied from the continental to the local scale.

The research considers that while the creation of protected bioregional ecosystems areas connected by conservation corridors, this will not succeed without providing robust designs that could facilitate implementation. The research takes the added step of ground-truthing the thesis at a local community scale by taking stakeholders through a design charrette process. This approach demonstrated the broader regional objectives could be met while considering site specific constraints and opportunities and holds widespread national and international appeal that resonates with policy makers.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Interpretive Wonderings 

Interpretive Wonderings Team



Interpretive wonderings is an important and beautiful body of design research, a collation of interrelated events that originated from an invitation to map the landscape of an aboriginal community owned station property in southern NSW. The research, the product of a collaboration between cultures, through art and design, on Country, challenges the conventions of ‘mapping’ and cartography, while also illustrating a rich visual interpretation of Culpra Station.

The work offers a critical approach to the environmental challenges we now face, illustrating how the sharing of knowledge systems might broaden and deepen our understanding, and thereby shed new light on how we might sustain Australia’s fragile landscape for future generations. It shows the diversity of our industry and the power of the landscape in its collective understanding of place. At the same time, it establishes a valuable framework for collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the future, and as such, is an important step on the path to Reconciliation.


Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Monash Living Lab 

ASPECT Studios 

Living Lab is a remarkable contribution to sustainable, relational and productive design that has extraordinary benefits for practitioners and industry. Utilising green wall infrastructure to encourage and showcase research into planting, bio-filtration and water quality improvements. The design is thoughtful and encourages participation with systems that are often hidden.

The jury commends Aspect Studios contribution to the Living Lab. Promoting sustainable design through activating its demonstrative qualities and encouraging public investigation, it further promotes this innovative and necessary landscape type for built environments within Australia

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Greener Places 

Government Architect NSW (GANSW)



Greener Places is a green infrastructure policy that supports the conceptualisation, creation and development of a connected network of new green places across the metropolitan region of Sydney. This policy is a landscape-led initiative and is the first urban Green Infrastructure policy for NSW, reflecting the NSW’s Government’s collective vision and expectations in planning, designing and creating a sustainable NSW.

This is a valuable document likely to underpin all built projects in NSW. Rather than present new research on the definition of green infrastructure, it evaluates how existing knowledge needs to be integrated into current policy and legislative frameworks. In this regard it is a comprehensive, innovative and essential framework for the next step, which is likely to include more detail on implementation including legislation and statutory planning. It will support possible funding mechanisms and the development of a state-wide GIS data base of existing green open space for NSW. As a government policy, Greener Places is likely to have a broad reach of appeal and influence State Governments across Australia.

Award of Excellence 2018

Place of Healing 

UDLA

This project is an exemplifier of deep listening and the role of landscape architects in providing a holistic People and Place approach to visioning that goes beyond spatial design. The project demonstrates a deep understanding of Indigenous planning and management and cultural heritage visioning as well as intergenerational cultural healing.

The site is significant, providing a safe haven to Western Australian stolen generation who were taken to live in the nearby Sister Kate’s Home which was established in 1934 to house Aboriginal children removed from their families and Country across the State. The reimagined bush block builds the capacity of the Sister Kate’s Home Kids Aboriginal Corporation (SKHKAC) by providing an event space, healing walk, edible garden, fauna and flora walk, vehicle access and office facilities.


The display of excellence is summarized by the quote provided by Cheryl Philips, Sister Kate’s Home Kid and SKHKAC Director in reference to the impact the landscape architects have had;


‘Before you came along, all we wanted was a road put in and an office, you opened our minds up on a better plan, that we could do something like that on there was just amazing’.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Palmwoods Placemaking Community Empowerment 

Sunshine Coast Council and CoDesign Studio 

The community of Palmwood had struggled to find their identity due to the decline of agricultural industry in the region and the by-passing of the town to more well know tourist destinations in the region. Through extensive community engagement and master planning workshops for the design of a new town square, a community-led approach to inspire ownership was ensured.

During the construction of the town square project, the community were empowered to maintain momentum through the identification of community leaders to inspire and active the town. Several tactical urbanism ‘micro-projects’ including verge veggie gardens and photo booths were developed to engage the community and enable the first steps of economic uplift of the area. These micro projects cascaded into a five week ‘Village Harvest Event’ which supported 60 community events attracting over 2000 people to Palmwoods and reaching 29,000 people via social media.


The placemaking program devised by the landscape architects was successful in building the regional profile, strengthening commercial capital and building new community networks.

There was a notable diversity of landscapes entered in this category, representing the wide number of approaches being taken in gardens today.


Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre

Rush Wright Associates 


The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) has transformed thinking about what is possible in health design in Australia through intrinsically integrating the curative benefits of access to landscape, views, natural light and sunshine within the design.

The project is impressive in its botanic diversity which varies throughout the range of garden spaces. Private secluded rainforest niches and courtyards provide respite and reflection, while large, active rooftop terraces cater for a mix of social spaces to meet, mingle and relax. Additional rooftop terraces are designed more like a casual backyard, planted with productive trees and edible understoreys, linking the health-giving power of fresh garden produce with the social health benefits of visitors and healthcare professionals working the gardens in an informal group setting.


The jury commended the ambition of the gardens which reinforces the key principle that biodiversity is the essential platform for all human health, a concept that modern medicine sometimes overlooks.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

EVE Apartments 

360 Degrees Landscape Architects


EVE Apartments successfully establishes an immersive ‘backyard’ feel for residents through the use of a lush planting palette that promotes interaction with a mix of beautiful garden spaces.

Careful consideration between the interface of ground floor dwellings and the street has resulted in a series of raised terrace gardens that play a pivotal role between public and private life, engendering the neighbourly spirit of past terrace homes, whilst maintaining passive surveillance and engagement with the street.

All areas outside the building footprint have been maximized with garden areas to ensure a lush green outlook from dwellings is maintained. Rambling gardens spill out onto street frontages from secluded courtyard spaces. Planting extends up the façade of the building where vigorous rainforest vines reach skyward on ‘trellis’ structures that make balcony spaces feel more akin to a green ‘backyard’. The roof gardens, in turn, offer respite and recreation for residents with a series of spaces created by a sophisticated layering of lush dryland plants.

The jury commended the landscape architects for establishing a unique garden typology that promotes engagement and interaction with a diverse mix of species whilst enhancing the well-being of residents in medium density apartment living.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Valley Lake Lookout 

McGregor Coxall



This project invites the visitor to enjoy the sublime beauty of the quarry space by creating a simple elegant viewing platform. The extended cantilever of the platform extends out and over into the man-made quarry providing thrilling views from and towards the platform.

The well-considered detailing of the structure mirrors the site’s industrial past and allows the landscape to dominate the experience. The jury was impressed at how the project inspires the celebration of suburbia through the simplicity of the platform and the drama and boldness of its positioning.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Immigration Museum 

Rush Wright Associates 



This project provides new seating that is carefully integrated with the existing trees to create much needed resting spots. The positioning and configuration of the benches allows the appreciation of the existing architecture and uses the shade of the existing trees to create new welcoming and enticing spaces.

The materiality creates an eye-catching, joyful statement with colour and textural interest that has been well executed. Beautiful photographs and Instagram posts show the project has been embraced readily by the community.

Award of Excellence

Temaiku Land and Urban Planning

Jacobs 


Tamaiku Land and Urban Planning is a brave, necessary and compelling project that addresses one of the greatest injustices played out today – the loss of home, community, culture due to climate change.


Here, the nation of Kiribati consists of 33 low lying coral atolls across 3.5 million sq km of ocean making it one of the world’s most economically and physically vulnerable communities I the world due to sea level rise. The proposal for aims to mitigate the impact of sea level rise brought about by frequent storm surge inundation. The reclamation of 300ha of land from the sea offers hope to 35,000 people as they are relocated 2m above predicted 2200 ocean levels.


This project is centered on resilience, action and equality for all communities. It is an exemplar of climate change adaptation within the Pacific Islands and impressively, one where landscape architects are front and center in bringing about change for vulnerable communities.


Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Lingang Bird Airport

McGregor Coxall 



This project showcases the exciting opportunity that exists when we reclaim spaces within our cities for critical habitat. The Lingang Bird Airport proposal would provide habitat for 50 million brids within the East Asian-Australian Flyway (EAAF). One fifth of globally threatened waterbirds fly the EAAF and the corridor is the world’s most threated due to coastal urbanization.

This imaginative competition proposal, although speculative, is courageous in ensuring the wonder and delight of the natural work is retained for people to enjoy. Using ‘sponge city’ principles from recycled wastewater and harvested rainwater it proposes to turn the 61ha of previously degraded landfill site into a wetland. The wetland us filled with walk trails and educative opportunities while also connecting this site to a broader, green infrastructure corridor of forests and farmlands around the city.

The project is inspiring of international significant to threatened migratory birds and demonstrates the opportunities

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

DaNang Railway Connectivity Improvement & Urban Redevelopment Study 

Hansen Partnership



Drawn out of mutual respect and collaboration, this project demonstrated cross-cultural knowledge exchange and building the capacity of 15 local Vietnamese professionals through an intensive nine month exercise in best practice approaches to landscape architecture, urban design and planning.

The success of this training and capacity building exercise shows new ways of working and highlights the potential of Australian landscape architects contributing the role of landscape architecture profession within the broader Asia-Pacific Region.

The methodology is transferable and is commendable because its intellectual legacy is a key part of the project aims and outcomes. The vision for urban regeneration, centered on Transport Orientated Design (TOD) and Pedestrian Orientated Design (POD) principles along a remnant rail corridor site, demonstrate outcomes where local perceptions of road infrastructure can be better considered to provide more holistic environmental, economic, social and community benefits.

Award of Excellence 2018

Newtown Town Centre 

UDLA Pty Ltd

This project demonstrates excellence in leadership from planning through to execution and provides the town of Newman with a wonderful legacy project that will continue to build community interaction that is socially and financially sustainable.


The square is a significant component of the Newman Town Centre revitalization project. It provides significant shade trees across a 2,600sqm civic plaza that once was previous hardstand carpark. The creation of a new civic space assists the regional community of Newman transitioning from a mineral dependent region to one that is more livable, meaningful and places community and identity are at the heart of the town.


The project highlights the opportunities that come from authentic reconciliation approaches to the design of public space. This was exemplified by the cultural healing between two Indigenous language groups the Martu and Nyiyaparli whose Cloud Rock Rainmaking Story has been produced with local artists and is made available on the large digital screen within the square.


The community’s sense of ownership and ongoing direction has been supported by a robust Place Management Plan led by the landscape architects. The project embodies how landscape architects are directly contributing to improvements in the mental and social health and wellbeing of a regional community.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Palmwoods New Town Square

Sunshine Coast Council 

 

 

This project clearly demonstrated sustainable outcomes related to social and economic capacity of the community. The leadership undertaken by the landscape architects ensured a remarkable 96% approval of the plans core aspirations the local community.


The project shows restraint and sensitivity to human scale as well as the local climatic conditions by the use of picabeen palms, the emblematic vegetation of the area. It is clever in how it has dealt with topography and ensured pedestrian right of way is prioritised. The square embraces heritage-built form with a contemporary design that showcases the shared vision for the region.


The project is part of an emergence of investment in the region and the public realm to assist the town as it shifts from agricultural ‘tree change’ lifestyle economies. The square has given the community of Palmwood a central meeting point for community celebrations and festivals and a new sense of pride and ownership in their town.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Railway Square 

PLACE Laboratory 


Railway Square is a beautiful and robust contemporary response that elevates the most important group of early twentieth century industrial buildings in Western Australia.


The historical narrative of the site becomes a useable and much-loved space for all. The landscape architects have demonstrated a significant amount of in-depth historical research to inform the design and heritage interpretation response. This was influenced further by user audits to determine how people might use the site in the future.


The project includes significant remediation of the site as well as the development of a robust return brief to ensure the public realm would transform the surrounding precinct as it evolves. The high-quality finishes and bespoke elements elevate the site into a delightful and playful civic space to be enjoyed by all.


The square supports a new residential community and provides an outstanding new civic space for nearby workers. The project demonstrates success of a multi-layered and complex project where the landscape architects as lead designers have ensured the creation of an authentic and compelling space.

Landscape Architecture Award 2018

Earth Sciences Garden

Rush Wright Associates




This project is a wonderful example of the university’s strategy to promote outdoor learning spaces. The ‘garden’ is an intricate and thoughtfully design space on campus that showcases the physical environment of the region. The project is conceptually innovative through its abstraction of the regions geology and is supported in its execution through a high level of detailing that ensures a unified space on campus.


The success of the project is demonstrated through the detailed iterative evolution of the project in accordance with rock availability and the use of digital technologies to enhance the spatial qualities embedded within.


The project demonstrates a collaborative approach between landscape architects and academic staff to bring the vision of an external learning environment to life. Thought leadership is shown in the promotion of a ‘learning for all’ approach to education, an encourages deeper thinking about the broader landscape to all students and staff on campus. The integration of vegetation and water to emphasises the geological conditions of the region further contribute to the storytelling embedded in the civic space.