A garden wall that clings precariously to one of the city’s hotels has picked up a major research award in this year’s Australian Institute of Landscape Architects SA awards.

The awards are judged by a panel of the state’s leading landscape architects. They are open to firms based in South Australia  and can be from any year.

Below, InDaily DESIGN features winners in the Research, Residential Design and Association Medal categories, along with three young Future Leaders of landscape architecture. We’ve also included images of the projects and their submissions to the jury, plus judges’ citations for each project, so you can get a sense of what makes a good piece of landscape architecture.

Research and Communication in Landscape Architecture

Award of Excellence in Landscape Architecture (Research and Communication) – Living Architecture. Where Science meets Design, Fifth Creek Studio
Client:  Aspen Development.

Citation: In an intellectual environment characterised nationally by hyperbole and misinformation, this focused and systematic research project is a welcome relief, building on preceding research to establish South Australia as a leader in the field. The rigor of the overall research program provides a locally tested evidence base for urban greening projects and communicates the findings to national and international audiences. We look forward to more projects that research how global challenges can be met by real knowledge of their interface with local environments.

Award – Random Arts Project, WAX Design and SPUD
Client:  City of Holdfast Bay

Citation: This project demonstrates how big impacts can be achieved with minimal budget. Using their disciplinary-specific skills in curation, public space development and community engagement, the landscape architects led a process of inserting small artworks throughout the centre that created contemporary public conversations about the meaning and relevance of public art to everyday life in the suburbs. Ephemeral, witty, delightful and contextual – the echoes that continue in local conversations and in the fabric of the place are testament to the success of this intervention.

Residential Design in Landscape Architecture

Award of Excellence in Landscape Architecture (Residential Design) – North Adelaide and Adelaide Villa Gardens, Taylor, Cullity, Lethlean
Client:  Janie Michelle

Citation: Elegant and contemporary, these gardens set new benchmarks in residential design in landscape architecture, demonstrating how the historic fabric in the inner city can be transformed and become useful for a new generation of families — adults and children alike. Bespoke, refined, idiosyncratic and beautiful, they aspire in their conception, to equal the artworks they house and the clients they serve.

2013 South Australian Medal for Landscape Architecture

 North Terrace Stages 2 and 3 – Taylor, Cullity, Lethlean
Client:  Adelaide City Council

Citation: The 2013 Medal for Landscape Architecture in South Australia recognises the significant value that the profession can bring to the long and complex process of urban transformation, especially where clarity of purpose and commitment are required. Irrespective of their inherent value and potential to contribute at a city-wide scale, long-established environments are burdened with an inertia that is challenging to change. In North Terrace however, Adelaide has, over the nearly 15 years since the North Terrace Master Plan (authored by TCL) achieved a truly positive transformation. Despite the inevitable diversions resulting from individual interests, the next new idea, political cycles and administrative restructuring, North Terrace has been decisively re-established as a coherent place of civic pride – a fitting and dignified setting for the state’s major institutions, a robust and delightful plaza for the use and enjoyment of both citizens and visitors and, just as importantly, a symbol of the city’s capacity to transform itself. Congratulations to all those who have contributed to this project over that period, especially the landscape architects, Taylor Cullity Lethlean.

This project was also the winner of the InDaily DESIGN People’s Choice Award.

AILA South Australia Future Leaders Awards 2013

Jury statement 2013

The recipients of this year’s Future Leader’s Awards demonstrate the capacity to lead in three ways. They expand our research base, they broaden our engagement and they advance our practice. They already lead, searching for and finding ways to build not only the profession but its operating environment. The AILA supports and encourages them, acknowledging that without individual professionals of their calibre, attitude and energy, the profession would be unable to grow and develop.  Each recipient is an inspiration to other graduates, to the profession and to everyone concerned with improving our capacity to meet the challenges ahead.

Matt Baida, WAX Design

A strong ethical basis for his practice is evident to all those who work with Matt. He always listens and is interested in what others bring and searches to define the very best that the discipline of landscape architecture can contribute to any project. Matt is committed to advancing practice through research, investigation and communication and in making this award, the AILA recognises the value of that commitment to the future of the profession.

Aylwen Dennis, Aspect Studios

Aylwen’s commitment to the development of the profession is manifest in her activities in mentoring, education and communication. She tutors, assists with course development and publishes, advancing the profile and status of landscape architecture and advocating for good design through deep engagement with clients, colleagues and students. This award recognises the value of Aylwen’s achievements and her commitment to the profession of landscape architecture.

Alex Game, Oxigen

Alex excels in project organisation and implementation, exhibiting a thoroughness and maturity of attitude unusual in so young a professional. He has gained the confidence of clients and fellow professionals in delivering complex, large-scale and high-profile projects, maintaining design quality and integrity. This award is in recognition of his achievements and commitment to the profession of landscape architecture through the advancement of practice.