Sydney Park Water Re-Use Project (Sydney, New South Wales). Photo: Simon Wood Australia’s green future took centre stage at the country’s prestigious urban design awards on Thursday night, with a Sydney wetlands project taking top gong for large-scale designs.
Some of the country’s leading designers were recognised for their innovation and creativity – with sustainability a key focus in several winning projects.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a patron of the Australia Award for Urban Design, said in a statement that high-quality urban design was essential in building more sustainable cities.
Bowen Place Crossing (Bowen Place, ACT). Photo: Brett Boardmann
“Australia’s cities support our most important resource – our people. Great cities attract, develop and retain talent, supporting them to innovate, create new jobs and growth,” he said.
There were four award categories, from built projects and initiatives to publications and reports.
The Australia Award for Urban Design winners are:
The Goods Line (Sydney, New South Wales). Photo: Florian Groehn
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Delivered Outcome – Large Scale: Sydney Park Water Re-Use Project (Sydney, New South Wales)
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Delivered Outcome – Small Scale: Bowen Place Crossing (Bowen Place, ACT), The Goods Line (Sydney, New South Wales)
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Policies, Programs and Concepts – Large Scale: Turramurra Community Hub Masterplan (Sydney, New South Wales), Green Square Town Centre (Sydney, New South Wales)
Turramurra Community Hub Masterplan (Sydney, New South Wales). Photo: CHROFI
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Policies, Programs and Concepts – Small Scale: WGV at White Gum Valley (White Gum Valley, Western Australia)
The Sydney Park Water Re-Use Project is City of Sydney’s largest environmental project to date, designed to harvest stormwater from the Newtown catchment. Water is captured, made good and returned to viable use.
“The design provides a bold, high-quality and conscientious enhancement of public space that is interconnected with the surrounding urban environment through water collection and re-use,” the jury citation said.
WGV at White Gum Valley (White Gum Valley, Western Australia). Photo: Landcorp
The teams behind the project was Turf Design Studio and Environmental Partnership with Alluvium, Turpin + Crawford Studio and Dragonfly Environmental.
Planning Institute of Australia chief executive Kirsty Kelly said good urban design was about delivering great places for people.
“Creating great places is a team sport – it takes skilled professionals across a range of disciplines working together with the guidance of the community to deliver outcomes [or places] of lasting value,” she said.
“The Planning Institute of Australia believes that planning for good urban design is vital to solving the liveability, sustainability and productivity challenges faced in our cities and towns.”
The Australian Urban Design awards was established by former prime minister Paul Keating’s Urban Design Task Force in 1996.