Resene NZILA Pride of Place Landscape Architecture

To view photos from the evening click here
Photos by: Justine Hall Photography

Commercial (COM)

Whitehaven Winery - NZILA Award of Excellence                
Canopy Landscape Architects
Whitehaven

Anchored within the stunning geographic context of the Wairau Valley, cloaked by the Richmond Ranges to the north, Whitehaven’s restrained design approach enhances its Marlborough location.

The beauty of this project has been achieved through the collaboration of design professionals with their client. The design, both landscape and architecture, is seamless with both clearly understanding the significance and strength of context; the landscape is serene, a minimalist approach, with a limited palette as it picks up the rhythm of its place. Finally, a clever orchestration of external rooms knit back to form a complete structure.

 

Tait Communications Campus - NZILA Award of Excellence                 
Harrison Grierson
Hughes Developments Ltd, representing Tait Communications
Hughes Developments Ltd (engaged HG) Goom Landscapes Ltd (Construction)

The design for the new Tait HQ has achieved a clearly defined separation of buildings, and of public entry and private relaxation space for staff, within an extensive landscape setting. Generous tree plantings of both exotic and native species will provide seasonal interest and shade and structure as they mature.   The design has recognised and provided for the needs of the campus community, with easily accessible outdoor spaces in good weather and attractive jogging routes and exercise equipment within the site. A conscious effort has been made to engage with its neighbours in locating the latter towards the boundary of the site, enabling access by the wider community. 

Car parking, while extensive, does not overwhelm the site; mounding and tree planting soften the scale and provide clear cues to lead to the buildings. Contextually, the nearby location of the source of the Styx River is expressed strongly through materials and plantings, cleverly thought through as proximity to the airport has prevented waterbodies being located in this area.

Generous in its landscape treatment with thoughtful consideration of its work force, a space where people will enjoy working and which enhances the neighbourhood. 

 

VXV Plaza - NZILA Award of Excellence                
Jasmax
Goodman
Project Manager Phil Crampsie (Goodman)

VXV Plaza, set within Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter, provides a generous public open space on private land. The design team developed a strong historic narrative for the site, referencing the area’s industrial heritage; this narrative is the driving force behind the layout of the plaza, as well as material and furniture selections.

Once the precinct is complete the plaza will offer welcome respite from the built form, especially when viewed from above, and will become a valuable asset for the area.

The client’s sustainable values are clearly expressed in the final design. The project goes beyond simple aesthetics with its use of sustainably sourced timber and innovative approach to stormwater treatment in a highly contaminated environment. For this the project is to be commended.

 

Community Design (COMNTY)

Opaketai | Beach Haven Garden - Category Winner                
Auckland Council Design Team
Auckland Council | Kaipatiki Local Board
Heart of Beach Haven community group

Weaving interactive, cultural and historic narratives, Opaketai is an inspiring Community Park. It’s commercial offices, acting as gate keeper to the playground, enhance community engagement across multiple levels.

The joy this project provides to its community is a direct result of the design and build process, achieved through successful collaboration. Cognisant of the commitment and coordination required with such a large group of stakeholders, the successful cohesion between designers, client, artists and local community is to be admired and congratulated.

 

Parihaka – Restoring the Mana of the Maunga - NZILA Award of Excellence                
Opus International Consultants
Whangarei District Council
As identified in awards submission.

Parihaka – Restoring the Mana of the Maunga, demonstrates a considerable engagement with community groups including regular hui with tangata whenua. 

The design embodies the essence of place, reinforcing connections to significant landmarks and sight lines.

The specially selected kohatu forms the centre-piece of the lookout structure.  This exquisitely carved piece anchors the lookout platform and lends a sense of ceremonial occasion to the site. The slow incline of the walkway accentuates the power of the borrowed landscape, while the visitor is transported to a primordial time by awe-inspiring views.  The inclusion of interpretative signage helps visitors to understand the significant history of the area. Materials and construction are of a high quality.

 

Field of Dreams - NZILA Award of Excellence                
Pollen Workshop Ltd
Clifton County Cricket Club

Situated in a valley basin between the undulating sheep grazed hills just south of the Te Awanga, what started as a restoration of an infomal cricket pitch on the family farm has evolved into a community project of many facets. 

With the help of the Project’s landscape architects, who just happen to be local cricket fans, plans evolved.  Unused for 20 years, the original cricket pitch has been lifted over 7 metres at one end to almost level.  The turf and cricket pitch have been revamped, and added to this has been the development of a network of riparian plantings and creation of a wetland.  Plantings of over 10,000 trees and shrubs were undertaken along waterways, up through the adjacent valley and around the cricket pitch.  As these grow, an eco-corridor link emerges for local bird life.

The landowners received help from many family members, locals from the small community, backing from businesses (both local and further afield), and endorsement from Department of Conservation. 

This community effort  has not only re-awakened a family cricket pitch with a substantial environmental outlook, it has  created an active focus for local community for both sport and recreational use.

 

Infrastructure (INFRA)

Te Ara I Whiti - Light Path - Category Winner                 
LandLAB
Auckland Council (AC), Auckland Transport (AT), NZTA

Te Ara I Whiti, the name itself is one of pure joy, evoking feelings of excitement and romance. The pathway, or journey, is not just physical but also spiritual, forming a bridge from one place to another, bathed in light.

The Light Path uses a strict economy of means to transform the city dwellers’ experience of this piece of transport infrastructure. The striking coloured pavement and interactive lighting bring a distinctive and changing character to the reuse of this piece of motorway. This changes the experience of the path for the user and also changes their experience of the city beyond.

The design is bold and confident with all elements well integrated into the singular and simple form of the path. It is the power of this design strategy that elevates a utilitarian pathway to a much more complex space of inhabitation, and creates a distinctive urban landmark for the city.

 

Croftfield Lane Stormwater Wetland - NZILA Award of Excellence
Boffa Miskell Ltd
Auckland Council Healthy Waters
North Shore City Stormwater, Auckland Council Healthy Waters

A stormwater retention basin on an awkwardly-shaped piece of land has been transformed into a sophisticated haven of fluid transitional space, by expertly weaving complex and multiple technical challenges of water retention and cleansing. Croftfield Lane now provides an intriguing route in and out of the Wairau Valley Commercial Precinct.

The base planning is clever, inviting and engaging to the user providing numerous options to move and interact within this small space, from the expedient to the imaginative. The palette used is restrained to what feels more like a selection of textures and forms than materiality. The client and design team are commended for their vision.

 

Harewood Underpass - Part of the SH1 Russley Road Harewood to Avonhead Road Widening - NZILA Award of Excellence
Jasmax
MacDow JV (joint venture between McConnell Dowell and Downer) on behalf of NZ Transport Agency

Located under a large roundabout on SH1 Harewood and Russley Roads in Christchurch is an underpass with a difference.  The crisp angular whites of the walls remind you of both ice crystals and of the Southern Alps, sitting across the plains to the west. Panels of rough timber-relief concrete provide splashes of colour as you enter and move through the space.  A series of skylights bring both natural light and air into the pleasantly wide underpass. 

This small piece of infrastructure succeeds in reminding those passing through of its location’s strong link to the nearby mountains; tussock plantings continue this theme. Feeling more like an art installation in a world usually associated with blank concrete, it provides light and colour in a situation usually associated with dimness and grey. Well used by both pedestrians and cyclists, the design team delivered a successful design outcome. 

This innovative contribution ensures our ever-growing, hard urban world provides individual and memorable experiences as we move through them.
 

Institutional (INST)

Wellington Zoo - Category Winner                 
Isthmus Group Ltd
Wellington Zoo

Meet the Locals He Tuka Aroha at Wellington Zoo is a celebration of all things New Zealand and a wonderfully immersive experience for adults and children of all ages.

A great success of the project is the fully immersive way a sense of playfulness, exploration, and discovery through its considered layout and robust material selection, enabling a sense of ‘getting off the beaten track’. A winding path gently rises up the valley through an abstracted transect of New Zealand’s landscape and links a series of beautifully created environments. Although highly stylised the journey never feels forced with each new turn revealing itself in a relaxed and natural way.

Through a collaborative approach, a deep understanding of the site and the New Zealand context, a restrained design sensibility, high quality execution, and meticulous maintenance, the team behind Meet the Locals He Tuka Aroha have created a joyful experience that succeeds at every level through elements of play, interpretation and activity, skilfully integrated to enhance the experience.

Victoria University of Wellington Hub - NZILA Award of Excellence              
Wraight + Associates Ltd with Athfield | Architectus
Victoria University

The Hub now functions as a true meeting place, both summer and winter, shaped to play host to a wide ride range of different student activities. The collaboration resulted in the adjustment of ground levels and built forms of columns, canopies and giant doors have achieved spaces which flow past these dividing walls, with seamless integration of internal and external spaces. The scale of space now balances the built form.

Consistent use of materials has reinforced the strength and unity of the space; temporary furniture allows for flexibility of use.  A difficult approach lane has been turned into an asset through placement of mounded areas, sculpture and seating at a pivot point, and the purpose of the space is clearly expressed.

A very cleverly thought through design which has achieved significant open spaces for the student community.
 

Parks (PARK)

Margaret Mahy Family Playground - NZILA Award of Excellence                 
Opus International Consultants
CERA
Park Central, BDP, Boffa Miskell, Landlab, Colin Meurk

A Christchurch Rebuild Anchor Project, Margaret Mahy Family Playground is the largest play project in New Zealand. Located in the city centre directly on the edge of the Avon River, this playground demonstrates one of the five key principles selected by the community to rebuild Christruchurch: Play.

Reflecting the diverse landscape of the Canterbury Plains and Port Hills, this 2.5 ha site incorporates large spaces and a wide array of play equipment.  The design team combined inspiring and colourful elements, creating a 130 m ‘story arc’ pathway using elements from the stories of local children’s writers Margaret Mahy and Elsie Locke.  Narratives and imagery from the Ngai Tahu also feature in the arc.  A variety of custom-made equipment delivers a 10 m high tower, 4 m high climbing slope with stainless slides, in-ground trampolines and flying foxes.  Water play, climbing nets and small artworks also integrate themselves and contribute to an endless variety of potential for adult and child play.  

Through vision and collaboration, the Margaret Mahy Family Playground is, and will continue to be, an essential addition to the Christchurch City Rebuild. 

 

Pukeahu National War Memorial Park - Category Winner                 
Wraight Athfield Landscape + Architecture Ltd (WALA)
Ministry for Culture and Heritage New Zealand

Commissioned by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and completed in time for the 2015 ANZAC Day centenary, Pukeahu is a hugely significant addition to New Zealand’s cultural landscape.

As both a staging ground for national remembrance and a sophisticated piece of urban infrastructure Pukeahu has been beautifully crafted and succeeds at every level.

This complex, multilayered design has been executed with a clarity of vision, confidence, and restraint; the park offers much to the people of, and visitors to, Wellington.

The reverent Pukeahu is a place of utmost value to all New Zealanders.

GEORGE MALCOLM WINNER
Pukeahu is an exercise in sophisticated design and spatial planning, executed with a confidence and attention to detail befitting of its status as our National War Memorial Park. The design team expertly weaved together multiple cultural and historic narratives whilst navigating a myriad of complicated technical challenges to realise both a park as a place of remembrance and a piece of urban infrastructure that offers much to its surrounding city.

Masterfully manipulating the topography with subtle plays in geometry to create a series of connected ‘rooms’, the park culminates in a large square in front of the national war memorial that commands a sense of real gravitas. This is place making on a grand scale, and yet a feeling of intimacy is retained, allowing the park to be enjoyed for a range of activities and everyday use that keep it vital and engaging.

Employing a restrained palette of materials and beautifully executed finishes, the park exudes a strength and calmness that reflects a clarity of vision.

The design elements embedded into the DNA of the park will withstand the tests of time and taste, as future memorials are developed within its framework and the city matures and grows around it. Pukeahu exemplifies the art and practice of landscape architecture at the very highest level. Those involved in its creation can be extremely proud of their work.

 

 

Residential Single Dwelling (RES1)

Nomayah House - Category Winner                 
Canopy Landscape Architects
Leighton and Aylssa Matheson

The Nomaya garden makes all the right moves from its spectacular rural hilltop location and 360° views over rows of grape vines and Tasman Bay. The bold planted terraces and the big lawn are scaled for their rural setting, picking up on the grain of the rural patchwork, the geometry of the surrounding landscape and the outdoor entertainment area is sophisticated in its austerity. The composition of elements, textures, and materials in both the hard and soft landscape treatment respond successfully to both the lifestyle choices of the client and the setting. The overall effect is that of a well-structured garden that integrates artfully with the simple shoe-box form of the house, the superb elevated views and the cultivated rural setting.

 

Small Projects (SMALL)

Webb Street Garden - Category Winner               
Mark Newdick Landscape Architects
Richard and Angie Gawith                 
David Melling

In this smallest of gardens is found a charming delight! A small spring of water bubbles out through a maze of irregular positioned basalt stone squares.  The water provides a quiet, yet mesmerisingly restful, movement down into the main body of the pool which maintains a reflective calm.

Based on inspiration from Lawrence Halprin’s ‘Keller Fountain’, it seeks to emulate water patterns found in natural streams and waterfalls.  This gathering of stone and water provide a visual focus for the garden as well as for people entering through the main door of the house.  It also serves as a small play element for children, providing an area for wading and water play in the calm waters.

The landscape design provides a perceptive difference within this small garden. The fountain provides not only a low maintenance solution for the busy owners, but the inclusion of refined movement and sound, bringing life into what could have otherwise been a very narrow strip of urban garden dominated by city noise.

 

Onehunga Mall Streetscape Artwork - NZILA Award of Excellence                
Urbanlogic Studio Limited
Auckland Transport, Auckland Council, Livable Streets

These roadside fences are a fine example of a strong collaborative arts approach that resonates with its local context, elevating what could have otherwise been a quiet piece of urban street furniture. The design team are to be commended for their innovative use of technology and fabrication that sees a strong concept fully realised.

Thoughtful and surprising, the installations reward the viewer or passer-by and create a unique marker for Onehunga.

 

Urban Spaces (URB)

Cenotaph Precinct Upgrade - Category Winner
Wraight + Associates Ltd & Wellington City Council Urban Design Team
Wellington City Council and Parliamentary Service

This deceptively simple solution for Wellington’s Cenotaph precinct impressed with its ability to make broad sculptural moves at the same time as resolving complex heritage and circulation issues. The new parliament stair is broad and generous, satisfyingly proportioned and fit for its everyday use as well as large public events. The open square is beautifully detailed with a subtle and controlled use of materials. The minimalism is offset by the texture of the planting and the patterning of the pavement. The integration of artist Joe Sheehan’s ‘Walk the Line’ has been handled with skill and is an exemplar of  skilful collaboration resulting in seamless execution, the work bringing a low key richness to the project.

 

Porirua CBD-Cobham Green - NZILA Award of Excellence                 
Isthmus Group Ltd
Porirua City Council

This otherwise leftover space, separating car parks at the edge of a mall, punches well above its weight as visitors arriving at the central Porirua carpark are treated to a sophisticated urban aesthetic.

A comforting human scale has been achieved in this island park contained by a composition of solid granite blocks forming twisted planes of lawns and plantings. Roughly defining a line to a light timber-clad kiosk of the same material creates an enlivening entry to the Porirua Mall where further work is planned. Strong use of colour applied to skate stops and platform seating lift the park, texturing it with a vibrancy that bring joy into the setting. Mature pohutukawa have been cared for and made more valuable by being integrated into platforms and raised garden beds. 

This inspiring piece of public landscape architecture has lifted the bar to new heights.

 

Westhaven Promenade - NZILA Award of Excellence               
LandLAB
Waterfront Auckland

This pathway delivers a sophisticated waterfront experience, making the most of the striking setting. 

The promenade is much more than a commuter route as place-making and story-telling opportunities have been generously applied, turning the pathway into a destination that is unique to Tamaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. Generous proportions make the promenade comfortable and easy to use by walkers, runners, cyclists, model boat enthusiasts and other leisure seekers. The playful alignment, restrained composition of elements, use of colour and surprise interventions make this a joy to experience.  Overall, this work brings the City of Sails coastal landscape to the water’s edge with generous new native coastal plantings complementing the existing mature pohutukawa trees. 

Australian Memorial Wellington - NZILA Award of Excellence               
Mark Newdick Landscape Architects
Australian Wargraves Department

The tall, red sandstone columns of the Australian War Memorial, grouped and interspersed with red flowering eucalyptus trees, immediately calls to mind the red continent of our neighbour, while use of basalt represents New Zealand’s landform.

Polished black basalt panels inserted within the columns reflect the sky and bring an ephemeral quality to the strongly rooted columns.  Indigenous art engravings on the polished surfaces blends the essence of both countries with the many shared theatres of war that are engraved on the stone surfaces in a more traditional, commemorative manner. 

The location of the Memorial within the new Pukeahu Park, on the central axis with the Carillion and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, reinforces the central ceremonial space of the park.  The 6 m tall columns respond to the Carillion tower, faced across the parade ground, providing a boundary to the plaza.  The gum trees will shelter the area when grown, their lightness contrasting with the denser pohutukawa supporting the Carillion.

This is an inspiring and emotionally telling piece of landscape design which both commemorates and celebrates the close relationship of these two ANZAC neighbours. Its beauty and strength are in its simplicity, while multiple messages are included for those who tarry in the shade of the trees.  Its presence will resonate for generations to come. 

Sustainability (SUS)

Kopupaka Reserve, Stage 1 - Category Winner               
Isthmus Group Ltd
Auckland Council

Instantly identifiable even to the ‘uninitiated’ as a response to its environmental condition, its uniqueness questions us to explore further – putting sustainability at the forefront. Blending those skills of technical discipline, thoughtful response, and beautiful design, Kopupaka extends the opportunity for all to question a view of our intervention on the landscape and our role as landscape architects to keep pushing the boundaries.

Te Karanga o te Tui (TKT)

KOPUPAKA RESERVE - Category Winner               
Isthmus Group Ltd
Auckland Council

All of our places have a story to tell and Kopupaka Reserve weaves a story of possibility for what can be achieved, even in our most everyday treatment of urban spaces, and turning them into something special. Te Karanga o te Tui is awarded in as much about pulling together those embedded layers as it is for pushing the boundaries to celebrate them.

That celebration plays out clearly here, in a space that can only be from Aotearoa.

 

TAUMANU RESERVE - NZILA Award of Excellence                 
Isthmus Group Ltd
Auckland Council, NZTA

A stunning response to a complex site that still feels uniquely personable. The intervention is a strong and bold, 6.8 ha of new coastal playground. Taking a walk (or bike ride) through Taumana Reserve is like reacquainting yourself with a familiar yet unknown relative; the site is embraced, subtly revealing its layers, returning our focus back to the Manukau. More so it is innovative, integrating dynamic cultural, social and environmental layers, in a unique space to be celebrated by generations to come.
 

ŌTĀHUHU STATION - NZILA Award of Excellence                
Jasmax
Auckland Transport                                  
Rau Hoskins, Tessa Harris, Graham Tipene, Arts Sub-Committee

Tihe mauri ora – Ōtāhuhu Station. It is a pleasure to congratulate the transport authority, local Iwi, and landscape architects, for their foresight to celebrate travel in such a symbolic and romantic fashion.

The design team expertly weaved together multiple cultural and historic narratives, all whilst navigating a raft of complicated technical planning issues required for this complex site. The offset diagonal in the landscape planning is a cleverly effective intervention; it sets up distance – and from there – the ability to provide this heroic and celebratory response to travel. From this vantage, multiple layers of meaning are peeled back, progressively, to add to the experience and excitement of visitors.

 

Unbuilt Visionary (UV) - NZILA Award of Excellence

WW1 CENTENARY MEMORIAL COMPETITION                 
Isthmus Group Ltd
Auckland Mueseum

On Home Ground was a design competition entry in late 2015 that sought to memorialise the Centenary of WWI via the Auckland Domain ‘frontage’ of the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

The intent of On Home Ground is respectful of both the Maori and European heritage of the place – Puke Kawa, while creating the further opportunity for ceremonial and daily use of the commanding site.  The latter envisaged a layering of spaces via terraces and seating lines and also pokutukawa-shaded walks, and meeting places that echoes the inhabitation and occupation of the space, evoking memories that war has affected our nation from pre-colonial times through to the present day.

The intended composition of elements and materials in both the hard and soft landscape treatment respond well to the setting and its historical and cultural references.  The overall conceptual design and the story it told was seen as a worthy response by the proposal’s design collective and it was a good portrayal of ‘integrated thinking on matters pertaining to memorials, culture and landscape’.
 

Communications (COMM)

Coast. Country. Neighbourhood. City.  - Category Winner              
Isthmus Group Ltd
Isthmus Group Ltd
Michael Barrett

This collection of 25 projects thoughtfully showcases a corpus of design work by one of New Zealand’s most influential studios and celebrates some of New Zealand’s most well-loved spaces.

Succinctly titled, its considered textual discussion is accessible for all to enjoy and is as much about the stories ‘behind the scenes’ that make these places special. Varied in each project’s scope, the messages throughout come back to design, people, and place. The ‘strength of ideas’ is combined with beautiful images to give readers and the landscape architecture profession, a benchmark within the New Zealand context.

When considering landscapes that make our place, Aotearoa, New Zealand unique; ‘Coast. Country. Neighbourhood. City.’ will be referred to often in years to come by future New Zealand designers.

CHARLIE CHALLENGER AWARD
Coast. Country. Neighbourhood. City.

Mighty in its ambition, its clarity in delivery, and its context in capturing not only influential projects, but also their essence that all New Zealanders can all identify with. It sits easily, as a quick reference to come back to often, or as an engrossing journey reading from front to back.

‘Coast. Country. Neighbourhood. City.’ Stands tall, at the forefront showcasing a New Zealandness, on a local, national, and global stage.

 
 

Strategic Landscape Planning and Environmental Studies (STRAT) 

Cornwall Park 100 Year Master Plan - Projecting a Resilient Future - Category Winner
Boffa Miskell + Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Acrhitects                 
Cornwall Park Trust Board
Cornwall Park Trust Board and personnel, Tattico, Flow, Clough and Associates, DLA Phillips Fox, Harrison Grierson, Tamaki Collective, Auckland Council, Local Boards

The design team have created a 100 year vision for Cornwall Park, arguably the best loved open space in Auckland. While the vision and masterplan involved a number of collaborators and professional disciplines, it remains essentially a framework about the landscape in its many guises; a recreational and scenic space, a working farm, an ecological refuge and above all, a cultural heritage landscape.

The masterplan respects the past to help build the future, based on a number of guiding principles, detailed investigation and deep understanding. It goes well beyond a framework for the Cornwall Park Trust Board, providing both a celebration of Cornwall Park’s history and a detailed analysis of its values and features. A beautifully crafted document has been produced that has a wide audience and appeal beyond those entrusted with the park’s development and management. With detailed written and visual content based on a series of guiding principles, the document demonstrates a deep understanding and inspiring vision for this popular Auckland Park.

Christchurch Central Streets and Spaces Design Guide - NZILA Award of Excellence
Christchurch City Council and Matapopore Charitable Trust
Christchurch City Council and Matapopore Charitable Trust

The Streets and Spaces Design Guide provides a long-term strategy for enhancing the environmental quality and experience of the public realm for central Christchurch.  The scope of the Guide successfully addresses broad scale strategy and delivers detailed implementation recommendations. It is a well-constructed document with easy to use dividers, which allows for good navigation through the document and information is presented in a logical sequence.  The highly visual nature of the Guide assists the translation of complex strategic vision into concepts and outcomes that are accessible to a broad audience. The guide concludes by providing clarity with technical aspects of design, using real examples, such has street treatments and cycle lanes.

Local Path Design Guide - NZILA Award of Excellence                 
Resilio Studio, with MRCagney
Auckland Transport Walking and Cycling; Auckland Council Parks and Open Spaces

More than a design guide, this documents challenges us to think creatively in how we approach our integrated pathway connections, while at the same time providing us with the useful tools to do exactly that. Innovative – it balances well that design inspiration within a useable document that delivers – it is usable and practical on the ground. Not just for designers, it is for anyone championing good people connections within our cities; politicians, policy makers, and design champions will make good use of the Local Paths Design Guide.
 

 

Student (STU)

Pulse - Recovering the Lost Heartbeat of the Wellington Landscape - Category Winner
Oliver Pool
School of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington

The lost heartbeat of Wellington is certainly recovered through the project ‘Pulse’.  The scheme is introduced well through a series of contextual drawings, photographs and succinct paragraphs. The augmentation of the existing storm water structure is proposed via an integration of natural and urban systems.  The design responses are beautifully represented and explore the changing and diverse nature of the urban setting.   From inception to conclusion the project is comprehensive.

 

Hurunui O Rangi Marae - NZILA Award of Excellence              
Claudia Boyo
School of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington / Jasmax

The project ‘Hurunui O Rangi Marae’ champions the notion that landscape architecture can be the catalyst for the betterment of communities and place.  A small rural marae is reworked to incorporate important cultural conventions and activities.  This in turn helps to strengthen the Maori community and provides a presence for the local school in Carterton.  Recreation and cultivation play an important role in guiding the design moves.  Food production and commerce are important outcomes of the design.  Beautiful perspective images illustrate the design and give a good sense of the rural community scale. 

 

A Rising Storm - NZILA Award of Excellence                
Daniel Whatnall
School of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington / Boffa Miskell

The project ‘A Rising Storm’ utilises the Kilbirnie Isthmus as a case study for sea level rise, adaption to flood events and the development of landscape infrastructure to cope with inevitable change in sea level.  Vulnerable edges are identified and a ‘retreat, redirect and absorb’ methodology is utilised to cleverly redesign streets, industrial areas and community facilities. These are presented in a series of images that are set well into the context of the site.  Included in the project are some excellent examples of hand drawn speculative design work. In addition to this, the diagrammatic representations of street configuration and the impact of change in sea level  are integral to the visual communication of the research project. 

 

ENDURING

Waiheke Island Western Entrance Headland Landscape - Category Winner
Hauraki Gulf, Waiheke Island, Auckland
Dennis Scott + Countless Other Diverse Collaborators

Waiheke Western Entrance Headland is the culmination of Dennis Scott’s vision for an applied landscape planning approach that leads to sustainable landscape transformation.

The landscape response covers 430 ha and has spanned a number of projects and years throughout its development. It sits, as its name implies, at the entry to the island, straddling the horseshoe harbour and provides a new social and economic landscape for the island’s residents and the many visitors to Waiheke.

Formerly largely bare grass and in a single land use, the landscape has been truly transformed into a settled landscape with 3.5 million plants integrating buildings and providing a green mantle with improved in-stream values, enhanced wildlife diversity and reduced soil erosion. In addition, it has opened up the land for people through the introduction of a diversity of recreational pursuits and walkways, including improved access to the coast.

This reimagined landscape was 30 years in the making and combined an innovative approach with a burgeoning political and environmental interest driven by a new community arriving via the fast ferry.

Fundamental to the landscape change was the landscape architect’s input into a new District Plan, the first under the umbrella of the Resource Management Act 1991 (still unique in its approach to catchment management and landscape management) where additional development rights were offered in exchange for landscape protection and enhancement.

Careful review of performance and design criteria has provided an inspiring and enduring landscape we can all enjoy, and learn from.

To view photos from the Awards function click here.
Photos by: Justine Hall Photography