The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) has revealed the winners of the 2021 Tasmania Landscape Architecture Awards.
AILA recognised one Award of Excellence and three Landscape Architecture Awards across three categories, highlighting projects which celebrate the natural beauty of Tasmania and show leadership in landscape planning.
The jury applauded the entrants for the outstanding projects which showcased a bold and promising future for nature-based tourism.
This year’s landscape winners have been revealed as:
• Feycinet Master Plan
• Cradle Mount Visitor Centre
• Acton Residence
• A Manual for Evaluating the Visual Impact of Pumped Hydro Energy Storage
AILA Tasmania President Jerry De Gryse said the winning landscape projects had cemented Tasmania’s reputation as an outstanding place for tourism and landscape appreciation.
“With international tourism off the cards, Tasmania has become a hotspot for domestic tourism, and it’s very encouraging to see the landscape architecture industry embracing and accommodating this,” De Gryse said.
“I would like to congratulate all of the entrants, and of course the winners, for the incredible contribution they have made to our industry, our local community and those who come from all corners of the world to enjoy these spaces.”
AILA Tasmania Landscape Architecture Awards Jury Naomi Barun said comprehensive understanding of sites and a thoughtful and contextual response was a running theme throughout the awards.
“These landscape architects have overcome site challenges to enhance the existing landscapes and improve the visitor experience,” Barun said.
“These projects have anchored the surrounding architecture, and in doing so, confidently brought the landscape to the fore.
“I’d also like to highlight our sole Award of Excellence recipient, A Manual for Evaluation of the Visual Impact of Pumped Hyrdo Energy Storage by Inspiring Place.
“This manual demonstrates leadership in landscape planning and visual impact assessment. It communicates in plain English how we interpret the landscape and manage scenery and has significant potential for use by not only Hydro Tasmania, but also other infrastructure bodies and landscape architects across Australia.
“I am very pleased to have been involved in the Tasmania Landscape Architecture Awards for 2021 and have been incredibly encouraged and proud to see the outstanding landscape architecture projects which are being undertaken in this state.”
AILA Tasmania Award of Excellence and Landscape Architecture Award winners will gain automatic entry into National AILA Awards, to be held later this year followed by the International Landscape Architecture Festival.
Tasmanian Citations for Awarded Projects
Category 8: TOURISM
• Awards: 2021 AILA National/Chapter Landscape Architecture Award for Tourism
Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre
Playstreet
Cradle Mountain is an ancient, sublime and fragile landscape of glacial lakes, snow-covered craggy mountains, rainforests and wild alpine moorland. Playstreet has drawn these elements into the visitor centre to heighten the sense of arrival and of embarking on a journey of discovery.
The design resists any impulse to be showy, allowing the eye to travel toward the surrounding landscape. The dominant elements of path and quartzite gravel hint at the massive forces of glacial erosion and deposition that shaped the region and offset the building so that it appears as an extrusion in the landscape like the mountain itself.
Planters, raised over a former airstrip, show off the unique range of local plant communities. Playstreet has demonstrated skill in working with contractors to transplant vegetation with micro herbs and mosses intact. Playstreet are to be commended for their contribution to Tasmania’s reputation as an outstanding place for tourism and landscape appreciation.
Category 10: LANDSCAPE PLANNING
• Excellence Award: 2021 AILA National /Chapter Award of Excellence for Landscape Planning
A Manual for Evaluating the Visual Impact of Pumped Hydro Energy Storage
Inspiring Place
Inspiring Place’s Manual for evaluating the visual impact of pumped hydro storage demonstrates leadership in landscape planning and visual impact assessment – a difficult but essential stream of landscape architecture practiced by too few.
The manual communicates in plain English complex theory on how we interpret the landscape and manage scenery to laypersons, enabling Hydro Tasmania to make initial assessments on the visual impacts of their proposals and identify early opportunities for mitigation.
Importantly, the manual highlights the importance of engaging landscape architects to complete assessments, ensuring a level of professional rigour is applied to the evaluation of landscape sensitivities and values across Tasmania, much of which is of national and international importance.
The manual has significant potential for use by not only Hydro Tasmania, but also other infrastructure bodies and landscape architects across Australia who make judgements that may have both small and monumental impacts on the landscape.
• Awards: 2021 AILA National/Chapter Landscape Architecture Award for Landscape Planning
Freycinet Master Plan
Playstreet
This visionary Master Plan successfully articulates a bold future for nature based tourism on the Freycinet Peninsula. It is a thorough and comprehensive Master Plan that is befitting of a site of this significance. Site and environmental investigations have successfully informed planning and design decisions. Recommendations provide clear directions to address site issues ranging from minor changes through to the significant ‘game changer’ proposal of a new visitor gateway hub.
The new visitor gateway hub is a clever solution to the growing pressures of increased private vehicle visitation. Relocation of parking enables a readjustment of vehicle impacts but also the opportunity for enhanced visitor experiences. The Master Plan provides a strong framework for future upgrades which has been endorsed by the client and key stakeholders. With recommendations already starting to be implemented, the success of the Master Plan is already evident.
Category 14: GARDENS
• Awards: 2021 AILA National/Chapter Landscape Architecture Award for Gardens
Acton Residence
Playstreet
Initiated through the development of a thoughtful and contextually responsive Masterplan, Playstreet have presented a series of established gardens that are delightful. Key to the garden’s success is the designers comprehensive understanding of site and the understanding of time required to complete such an endeavour. The rear courtyard is the ‘hero’ of the estate, and despite having an air of informality, it beautifully complements the historic Georgian House.
Plant selection responds to the scale of the garden and the balance of mass and specimen planting suits the historic, agricultural, context. The flora in this space serves to disrupt the hyper symmetry of the architecture in a balanced and inviting way and draws attention to the site’s context. The gardens at Acton Residence anchors the architecture in its location and place in the world. They are dynamic and confidently bring the landscape to the fore.
