Three South Australian landscape projects – all collaborations with local government – have been honoured at the recent Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA).
AILA’s National Jury presented a total of 36 awards to projects spanning 17 categories.
The River Torrens Redevelopment – Breakout Creek / Purruna Pari Stage 3 – by TCL with Green Adelaide, City of Charles Sturt Council and City of West Torrens Council, received a coveted AILA Climate Positive Design Award.
This significant project spans over 6.2km of walking trails and shared paths, 11,400m2 of permanently vegetated wetlands, five viewing decks, a new river crossing and accessible boardwalk.
The Awards Jury described the design as a “benchmark for transformation of industrialised waterways to healthy ecosystems”.
“The landscape architecture team skilfully managed complex issues to ensure the enhanced watercourse will filter urban runoff, manage high- and low-water levels, protect surrounding areas from flooding, manage impacts of continued horse agistment areas, and re-establish habitat.”
One of the state’s newest sustainable and affordable housing project – Nightingale Bowden – was also honoured at the awards night.
Nightingale Bowden is an apartment building, with a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments (some of which are community housing). The design – by Landskap and OpenWork – was one of only three winners of a National Landscape Architecture Award for Small Projects.
Here, the landscape seamlessly integrates with the architecture, blurring the boundaries between built and green spaces, the Jury stated. The project was praised for creating a “meaningful space” that offers “lifestyle options and fosters social interaction”.
In summarising the prowess of the designers, the Jury had this to say: “The skills of the landscape architects are reflected in their ability to achieve an impressive outcome on a small budget. The project shows how embracing environmental sustainability has resulted in the creation of a design that is both affordable and able to promote positive relationships.”
The state’s third award went to a PhD project, entitled Transforming to an Age-friendly World: Models of Co-design for Creating Age-friendly Public Green Spaces in Urban Neighbourhoods received a Landscape Architecture Award for Research, Policy and Communications.
The winning team was made up of the University of South Australia, City of Unley Council, Office for Ageing Well and Tract Consultants.
The project explored the growing global challenge of ageing populations living in increasingly urbanised spaces. The Jury’s enthusiasm for the research was evident: “Here, the project team, led by scholar Zinan Chen, employed inclusive and respectful methods and tools to develop tangible, evidence-based solutions that go beyond conventional practices. The work highlights the contributions that landscape architects can make to this important topic.”
