Brisbane wins big at Australian Landscape Awards
The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) Queensland Awards were announced last night, with Brisbane-based projects taking out numerous distinctions.
The awards considered over 50 entries, which ranged from gardens and play spaces to civic, health, education, and infrastructure environments.
David Hatherly, the Jury Chair for AILA Queensland 2025, said that many applicants had prioritised the importance of Country, community and climate-awareness to add meaning to their designs.
“Landscape architecture is playing a critical role in connecting policy, infrastructure and biodiversity with how people connect with and experience their everyday environments,” Hatherly said.
This is particularly apparent in the triple-award winning Archerfield Wetlands Land Management project, an initiative of Brisbane Sustainability Agency (BSA) and designed by Urbis. The initiative is part of the Oxley Creek Transformation project, which aims to turn 150 hectares of flood-affected green space into an environmental attraction for Brisbane.
The project earned an Award of Excellence for land management, while the Archerfield Wetlands District Park claimed the Award of Excellence for its parks and open spaces, as well as a Landscape Architecture Award for play spaces.
South Bank, another triple hitter, was also the recipient of some well-earned praise due to the work done by Urbis and South Bank Corporation’s Future Master Plan.
Brisbane’s favourite riverside precinct took out awards for the state’s best Urban Design, a Landscape Architecture Award for parks and open spaces and another for the South Bank Biodiversity Strategy, designed by McGregor Coxall, BAAM & South Bank Corporation.
The projected makeover was lauded by the AILA Jury as “a robust urban framework that repositions South Bank as a connected and resilient civic parkland precinct”.
University of Queensland’s St Lucia Amphitheatre received commendations and an Award of Excellence in the health and landscape category of the awards for its elevated and considerate design. The space has been specifically designed by Hassel with a focus on campus community to re-welcome students to the outdoors after the home-dwelling behaviours of the pandemic.
Brisbane is also home to the only small project awarded a Landscape Architecture Award for Griffith University’s Red Note Courtyard Queensland Conservatorium, designed by TCL Taylor Cullity Lethlean. The small-scale environment was praised for its “flexible, culturally charged” design by the AILA Jury.
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Brisbane also won Landscape Architecture Awards for the Turbot Street Underpass Revitalisation (Vee Design), All Hallow’s School St Gertrude’s Lawn (Place Design Group), Kangaroo Point Bridge (ASPECT Studios), and Breakfast Creek/Yowoggera Bridge (LatStudios & Brisbane City Council). Awards were also claimed by projects in Logan City, Bundaberg, Caloundra and Caboolture.
AILA showcases Australia’s leading landscape architecture, with a focus on inspiring and quality work that centres people and environment.
The awards are passionate about the power that well-designed landscapes can have in society, from bringing in tourists and jobs, to creating more community and Country-minded living spaces.
The 20 Queensland landscapes taking out accolades at this year’s awards will all proceed to the National Landscape Architecture Awards, which will be announced this October in Hobart.
