Western Sydney Parklands and Parramatta Park Trusts and their consultants have scooped a record six gongs at this year’s 2020 AILA NSW Landscape Architecture Awards.

The awards acknowledged 33 projects over 14 categories in a virtual ceremony celebrating leading projects of all sizes across regional and metropolitan New South Wales. In the NSW Awards, Western Sydney Parklands and Parramatta Park Trusts and their consultants won:

Award of Excellence:

• Play Spaces – Paperbark Playground with Phillips Marler
• Parks and Open Space – Shale Hills Dog Park with Tyrell Studio
• Land Management – Your Parramatta Park 2030
• Cultural Heritage – Your Parramatta Park 2030

Landscape Architecture:

• Cultural Heritage – Mays Hill Masterplan with Tyrell Studio
• Landscape Planning – Horsley Park Urban Farming Masterplan with Group GSA

The Award of Excellence is given to the work judged as most significant for landscape architecture in each category.

Western Sydney Parklands Executive Director Suellen Fitzgerald said the awards are testimony to the hard work of the Parklands staff and consultants.

“It’s an honour to have the hard work of our staff and consultants so comprehensively recognised,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

“We are committing to offering innovation and design excellence for the community across our parks, playgrounds and facilities. For this to be publicly recognised at these prominent awards is a rewarding acknowledgment and fantastic celebration of landscape architecture.”

The Parks and Open Space Award of Excellence went to Tyrrell Studio for the Shale Hills Dogs Park, in collaboration with Western Sydney Parklands.

Shale Hills Dog Park in Western Sydney Parklands opened earlier this year offering five hectares of open space and state-of-the art dog agility, training facilities and a sensory garden.

AILA judges said the bold design sets a new benchmark for dog parks in Australia and praised the extensive on-site community consultation “elevating the humble dog park from a low budget affair to an iconic piece of landscape architecture”.

The Plan of Management and Conservation Management Plan, Your Parramatta Park 2030, won two Awards of Excellence in the Land Management and Cultural Heritage categories.

The Plan sets goals for the next decade to ensure the Park remains protected and preserved for current and future generations.

The Plan’s vision for Parramatta Park is a place for community and celebration in the green heart of the River City. The vision includes long-term goals for the Park as a space where people can be healthy and active and embrace the site’s rich heritage.

AILA judges said the Plan successfully integrates a culturally significant 85-hectare landscape spanning Cumberland Plain Woodland, the Parramatta River, open grasslands, sporting fields and heritage structures – ‘no easy task’.

“The Parramatta Park 2030 Plan is a rare breed of documentation - informative, educative, practical and accessible,” judges said.

“Deserving of an Award of Excellence the jury found the joint plans to be an easily digestible guide for park users in the ongoing care and development of a much loved and important city green space.”

The four Awards of Excellence for Paperbark Playground, Shale Hills Dog Park and Your Parramatta Park 2030 will enter the AILA National Awards held later this year.