The End of 2022
We all ended the year with the annual Mingle and Jingle party at the Casino with over two hundred of our allied professionals. Combining with the architects, engineers and planners (to name a few) we finally had time to catch up with each other, chat about the years achievements and celebrate 2022.
The combined event was generated through dialogue between the professional institutes and the event is now one of the must do social/ networking catch ups for the year.
Welcome to 2023
With the onset of the wet season, our landscape architectural teams are designing and documenting the new season’s works to be tendered and built in the dry season. Projects ranging from Defence, health clinics and hospitals; to new childcare centres, parks and recreation in our remote communities; to community projects.
The Northern Territory Government Infrastructure program for 2023 is delivering:
- National Aboriginal Art Gallery in Alice Springs
- State Square Art Gallery in Darwin
- Enhanced fishing infrastructure across the Territory
- Continued extensions to remote art galleries
- Upgrades to the Wildlife Park
- The Youth Justice Facilities in Alice and Darwin
- Infrastructure improvements in Wadeye.
Challenges for the year
We have been meeting quarterly with the State Government to improve communication of issues associated with landscape and aid our government where possible as they have no in-house landscape architects.
Our firms are now being engaged by the Government to write meaningful landscape briefs for their projects, we are providing reviews on landscape documentation and highlighting the importance of landscape as a mechanism for social infrastructure in troubled remote communities. Working with the Government can be slow to get the messaging through to Government Project Managers and auditors, however, we seem to slowly be making a difference.
Exciting times
The return of the Larrakia Cultural Centre to finish documentation and go to tender later this year has been welcomed by all. This exciting project is led by the Larrakia Development Corporation to develop a place that showcases Indigenous Larrakia people’s art, ancestral history, modern cultural maintenance, indigenous foods and stage for performance and engaging with events in the Indigenous calendar such as NADOC week and the music awards.
It's coming up to 5 years since Cyclone Marcus tore through Darwin and the Top End, this was a valuable lesson which has created important discussions and allowed a refresh of thinking and education opportunities to the wider of community of the importance of correct tree planting technique, species selection and the value of shade. To mark this occasion, we are holding a joint talk ‘Cyclone Marcus; 5 years on’ with AIA NT which we are eagerly awaiting.
Image: Cooling Darwin on Larrakia Country (Gulumoerrgin Language Group). Landscape architecture by Clouston Associates. Photograph by Clouston Associates.