Commercial/Institutional Landscape - Highly Commended

Commercial/Institutional
Highly Commended: The Gardenmakers (Daniel Kavanagh)

Project: Point Clare Public School, NSW amphitheatre, stage, arbour, planting and drainage works.

Judges Citation
A modern, creative design has transformed a degraded play area with drainage and soil issues, into a stunning and highly functional space for teaching, play, eating and recreation. The area is also used for school assemblies, as the school does not have a hall.

The design, which was presented with top quality documentation, is both stimulating and functional. It also included some design ideas submitted by landscape architecture students from University of NSW, who used the area as a study site.

We would particularly like to commend the designers for the quality of their entry which was simple yet provided us with the plans, specifications and photographs we needed to appraise the entry fully.

Mown lawns, mulch areas and a flat, multicoloured rubber wet pour space, have been combined. The result is an area that can have many different uses, but one that is easy to maintain and includes an all weather play area.

Due to budget constraints some areas were left for future development.

There is a good balance of sun and shade areas with provision for future development. The new plantings incorporated in the design – mainly in broad garden beds – are predominately native plants selected for ease of growth and for contrasting foliage textures and colours along with plant forms so the garden will look interesting even when plants are not in flower.

We found the design to be simple but very stimulating as suits a school environment. It invites activity and is an attractive addition to a fast-growing school where aesthetics doesn’t seem to have been a priority.

Jennifer Stackhouse