Projects win at int'l landscape architect awards

August 12, 2005

NZ projects win at international landscape architect awards

Wellington’s Oriental Parade foreshore redevelopment and the new Hastings Town Centre have been recognised as outstanding projects by the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA).

The Oriental Bay project received an award of excellence and the Hastings Town Centre project was awarded a merit at the IFLA Eastern Region international excellence awards.

Eastern Region president James Hayter of Australia said the awards encouraged and recognised the best quality landscape works in Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Australia, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, India and China.

``The best of landscape design and planning is vitally important for the future of the planet in order to blend man's footprint with nature,’’ he said.

He said landscape architects around the world were striving to enhance the landscape and to contribute to the design, conservation, and management of the environment.

The Isthmus Group earned plaudits for the Oriental Bay foreshore, New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects president Renee Lambert said today.

``Their project was not only a bold design carried out with elegantly restrained detailing, but it also shows deep insight into the cultural and physical character of the bay. The beaches, headland, pier and promenade now constitute a superb amenity for central Wellington.’’

Auckland-based Isthmus Group were part of a multi-disciplinary team including Architecture Group, and Tonkin and Taylor contracted by Wellington City Council to undertake the project.

The Hastings Town Centre redevelopment was designed also by the Isthmus Group. It involved the redevelopment of the Central Business District of Hastings.

The redevelopment has integrated community aspirations, the cultural context, art, the landscape, and the highest quality of urban detailing, to create a vigorous new identity for central Hastings, Ms Lambert said. The project has rejuvenated the central business district of Hastings.

ENDS

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