NSW Landscape Architecture Awards announced

The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ (AILA) New South Wales Landscape Architecture Awards 2017 (NSW) have been announced.

Over seventy projects were entered in the NSW awards, with nineteen winners crowned across categories including civic landscape, community contribution, cultural heritage, gardens, parks and open spaces as well as urban design and infrastructure.

Mark Tyrrell, Awards Jury Committee Chair, AILA NSW said “The prestigious awards were granted to projects promoting transformational design and green infrastructure excellence to politically challenging projects of scale and complexity”.

There is no doubt that NSW is experiencing a time of massive urban restructuring. Urban centres are densifying, expanding and growing at speed. Grey is threatening green. The debate about open space in the city continues to underpin most strategic investigations, yet the voice is now charged with a growing ‘evidence base’ to argue for better quality, better connectivity and more trees.

As urban centres expand and densify, they are also connecting, and mega scaled infrastructure projects are being re-conceptualised by landscape architects as catalysts for change. Landscape architects across the state are turning infrastructure projects once seen as environmental threats into vital opportunities for large scale remaking, restoration and environmental stewardship of the vast landscapes which they cross and connect.

Commenting on the one outstanding characteristic of successful projects, Mark Tyrrell said “despite or perhaps because of the volume of concrete being poured in NSW in recent years, this year’s award highlights were all about the power of plants. The pressures of urban living and population expansion are highlighting the dire need for trees in the urban and suburban environments, requiring deep engagement with communities to establish a stronger demand side for Green Infrastructure generally”.

He went on to comment that “on smaller projects too, the beauty of plants in lush collections featured heavily in both roof gardens and private gardens, perhaps a response to the increasingly compact characteristics of inner city living”.

The NSW State Landscape Architecture Awards 2017 took place at a sit down dinner reception on Thursday July 27 at IVY Ballroom in the presence of industry heavyweights. The projects that received an Award of Excellence and a Landscape Architecture Award at the state level proceed to the national awards, taking place later in the year, where one project will be awarded the best landscape architecture project in Australia.

Check out the winners for the 2017 Victorian Landscape Architecture Awards here.

Full list of winners:

Civic Landscape
Landscape Architecture Award
Maitland Levee – McGregor Coxall

Parks and Open Space
Landscape Architecture Award
Queanbeyan CBD – Queen Elizabeth II Park and Collett Street upgrade – Clouston Associates

Play Spaces
Landscape Architecture Award
The Paddocks Precinct Domain Creek Playground – McGregor Coxall

Infrastructure
Award of Excellence
Project Pacific Highway Upgrade – Woolgoolga to Ballina (Portion C) – Hassell
Landscape Architecture Award
Northern Beaches Hospital Connectivity and Network Enhancement Project – AECOM Australia

Land Management
Award of Excellence
Little Bay Cove – McGregor Coxall

Urban Design
Landscape Architecture Awards
K2K Urban Design – JMDdesign + Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects + Bennett & Trimble Architects
North West Rail Link: Master Plan & Urban Design – Hassell

Landscape Planning
Award of Excellence
Quality of Landscape Study for Green Square – Gallagher Studio

Research, Policy and Communication
Landscape Architecture Awards
Sydney Landscape Code – Oculus
Liveable Sydney – Tract Consultants

Community Contribution
Award of Excellence
Cool Streets Pilot Project – Gallagher Studio and Cred Consulting

Cultural Heritage
Landscape Architecture Award
Hyde Park Pool of Reflection upgrade – Turf Design Studio and Environmental Partnership collaboration (TDEP)

Tourism
Landscape Architecture Award
Three Sisters Track, Blue Mountains National Park – Blue Mountains Walking Track Project NPWS

Small Projects
Award of Excellence
Cleveland & Co – Black Beetle

Gardens
Landscape Architecture Award
The Hermitage – 360 Degrees Landscape Architects

IALD Lighting Landscape Award
Macquarie Street Mall Revitalisation – Urbis

aila.org.au