An Indigenous-led design of a public square, an upgraded lookout point that enhances views, safety and access for tourists, and a playspace that celebrates Dharawal culture were among the top winners at the 2024 NSW State Awards announced by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA).

“Entries this year demonstrate the power of harnessing community involvement to deliver enormous social and environmental benefits, with process easily replicated providing an exemplar for others to follow,” Jury chair Kate Luckraft says.

“Across many of the projects, a theme of reconnecting communities to their rivers was evident, along with a greater skillset in designing in these dynamic riparian conditions,” she says.

Parramatta’s Charles Street Square won the top Award of Excellence for Civic Landscapes. Designed by Spackman Mossop Michaels with Lahz Nimmo Architects and City of Parramatta, the project has transformed the Square at Parramatta Quay to provide a distinctive arrival for ferry passengers and a gathering place at the riverfront. Flood resilience is embedded throughout the design.

“Charles Street Square is an exemplar project that demonstrates the opportunities that present themselves when applying meaningful Indigenous-led design responses with the pragmatics of a highly constrained and flood prone site. The striking geometries respond directly to the shape of the river, as well as the enclosure of the surrounding escarpment and the riverbank landscape,” the jury said.

West Head Lookout, designed by Bruce Mackenzie and OCULUS with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, won the top Award of Excellence for Tourism. This significant upgrade of West Head Lookout in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, originally constructed in 1965, delivers uninterrupted views of the breathtaking natural landscape. The upgrade has restored safety for visitors and improved access, all the while celebrating Bruce Mackenzie’s original ‘Sydney Bush School’ design.

“This iconic example of the Sydney Bush School of Landscape Architecture retains the legacy of the original design approach of the lookout being subservient to the existing biodiverse landscape, whilst sensitively and collaboratively upgrading the sites to be safe and accessible. The visitor experience is enhanced with a new safety balustrade design enabling uninterrupted views,” the jury noted.

The first-of-its-kind public Places to Swim Guideline won an Award of Excellence for Landscape Planning. Long before backyard pools or aquatic centres, the community swam in rivers, creeks, or dams, as much as the beach. The guide by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure encourages the creation and renewal of swimming spots so that our communities can enjoy the benefits of a stronger connection to the outdoors.

“The Places to Swim best-practice guide is the first state-wide resource in Australia that provides leadership, advocacy and research on planning, designing, delivering, and managing swim sites for communities to get in, on and around water. The guideline very clearly presents considerations, methods and processes in a manner that its audience will find easy to use and apply to their project sites,” the jury says.

The Yirran muru Aboriginal Interpretive Playspace by Fiona Robbé Landscape Architects with Shellharbour City Council took out the Award of Excellence in the Play Spaces category. The project also won a Regional Achievement Award. Yirran muru (many pathways) Playspace is a collaboration of Dharawal knowledge celebrating 65,000 years of Dharawal connection to Country, dreaming stories, travel routes and language.

“As an education precinct, a meeting venue, a playspace, and a Dharawal cultural space, the multi-faceted design provides more than just a playspace for the Shellharbour community – it is an experiential education in the Dharawal culture. The design team is commended for undertaking a considered collaborative design process, involving both local Aboriginal students and elders, reflecting the values and stories shared by First Nations collaborators in the design and achieving an outstanding result,” the jury commented.

All project winners at the State Awards level proceed to the National Landscape Architecture Awards to be held later this year.

2024 NSW State Awards - Winners

Category: Health and Education Landscape

Project name | Winner | Award type

UNSW Village Green | TCL | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Small Projects

Harrington Collection | fjcstudio | Award of Excellence

Talbingo Boat Ramp and Recreation Area | Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture | Landscape Architecture Award

477 Pitt Street – Native Food Garden | Yerrabingin | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Civic Landscapes

Charles Street Square | Spackman Mossop Michaels with Lahz Nimmo Architects and City of Parramatta | Award of Excellence

Category: Parks and Open Spaces

Wadanggari Park | Arcadia Landscape Architecture | Landscape Architecture Award

Gabrugal Yana | Moir Landscape Architecture | Landscape Architecture Award

Albury Riverside Precinct | Group GSA | Landscape Architecture Award

Parks for People - Tench Reserve | Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure with CONTEXT | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Play Spaces

Yirran muru Aboriginal Interpretive Playspace | Fiona Robbé Landscape Architects with Shellharbour City Council | Award of Excellence

Wawai Ngurra Inclusive Adventure Playspace | AECOM and Blacktown City Council | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Infrastructure

Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport Corridor Landscape Strategy | Sydney Metro | Award of Excellence

Sydney Airport T1 Forecourt | Hassell | Landscape Architecture Award

Transport Access Program – Tranche 3 | Transport for NSW Urban Design (Public Transport & Precincts) | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Cultural Heritage

Cockatoo Island Wareamah Master Plan | Tyrrell Studio in collaboration with Mott McDonald & Klok Advisory | Award of Excellence

Sub Base Platypus Torpedo Factory | Turf Design Studio | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Gardens

Greyleigh | Studio Rewild & Emily Simpson Landscape Architecture in collaboration | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Landscape Planning

Places to Swim Guideline | NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure | Award of Excellence

Greening the Hawkesbury | Tract | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Research, Policy and Communications

SIMP@CT (Smart Irrigation Management for Parks and Cool Towns) – Urban Cooling Research Project | Sydney Olympic Park Authority in partnership with Western Sydney University | Award of Excellence

Creating Benefits for Nature and People in LGAs | Tract | Landscape Architecture Award

Smart Regional Spaces: Ready, Set, Go! | Regional NSW, UNSW Sydney, The University of Sydney | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Community Contribution

Landscapes for Well-Being | Tanya Wood with The University of Technology Sydney | Award of Excellence

Cessnock West Public School | Moir Landscape Architecture | Landscape Architecture Award

Category: Tourism

West Head Lookout | Bruce Mackenzie and OCULUS with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service | Award of Excellence

Regional Achievement Award

*Projects also won additional Awards in categories above

Project name | Winner

Cessnock West Public School* | Moir Landscape Architecture

Shoalhaven Resource Recovery Learning Centre | REALMstudios

Yirran muru Aboriginal Interpretive Playspace* | Fiona Robbé Landscape Architects with Shellharbour City Council

Albury Riverside Precinct* | Group GSA

ShadeSmart Award

*Projects also won additional Awards in categories above

Project name | Winner

Cessnock West Public School* | Moir Landscape Architecture

Landscapes for Well-Being* | Tanya Wood with The University of Technology Sydney

President’s Award

Winner: Chris Thomas

Future Leader Award

Winners: Abbey Davies and Mathew Nenadic

Branko Miletic

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