SYDNEY Thursday 6 August 2020 As governments work to create safer public spaces in a COVID-19-affected world, a much celebrated and frequented Sydney Park has been recognised in the world's most extensive architecture awards program for its contribution to the community and environment.

Announcing this year’s 2020 Architizer A+ Awards winners in New York yesterday, Architizer said the Sydney Park Water Re-use Project - a public park integrating water infrastructure on one of the city’s oldest post-industrial wastelands - had taken out top Jury Award in the Architecture + Water category.

The award is the second in recent weeks for the project, by Australian-based landscape architects and urbanists Turf Design Studio in collaboration with Environmental Partnership.

The Sydney Park Water Re-use Project was one of only three Australian finalists in total from 430 projects shortlisted from 5000+ submissions from more than 100 countries. Also shortlisted in the Architecture and Water category were an extraordinarily creative and eclectic collection of projects from the Arctic Circle to tropical Thailand, including: a water harvesting container cum learning facility and classroom at a school in Thailand; an adventure and polar exploration resort in Northern Norway; a warehouse storing materials for flood control in Suzhou China; and, a publication detailing the ancient art of terraced rice paddies in Bali.

Accepting the award, Turf Design Studio Founder Mike Horne said: “Current times are a stark reminder that it’s never been more imperative for us to explore ways to creatively adapt existing and new spaces, wherever they may be, for the enhancement of life, and the public realm. Likewise, the celebration of water and our vital connection to it.”

This year's Architizer A+ Awards focused on issues defining the future of architecture. New awards celebrate sustainable design and new approaches to building. These include collaborative categories like Architecture +Adaptive Re-use and Architecture +Water, which illustrate the changing demands of the industry today.

TURF Design Studio founder Mike Horne said Sydney Park Water Re-use Project demonstrates excellence in urban design through an integrated response delivering a dynamic, experiential urban space.

"The project highlights the benefit of significant design team collaboration, successfully bringing together water sensitive urban design, new interconnecting civil infrastructure, environmental bio-retention and a local urban water re-use system," Mike said. "We aimed to exemplify the urban design benefits that can be delivered from strategies such as Sustainable Sydney 2030 and the Sydney Green Grid."

Previously commending the Sydney Park project, City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has said: "I heartily commend Turf Design Studio for its outstanding work on the Sydney Park Water Re-Use Project. "This project has realised the city's stormwater harvesting objectives for Sydney Park, making a major contribution to the City's Sustainable Sydney 2030 local water capture and re-use targets. "As co-head consultants, Turf Design Studio and Environmental Partnership have transformed the park, literally bringing the wetlands and the story of water treatment to life in the park's ecosystems and the community's imagination.

"Through the chain of wetlands, connected by weirs, bridges, paths and stepping stones, the designers have created delightful places in the park's landscape, connecting community and nature."

"Governments, developers, architects and landscape architects among others need to work together to ensure we can design the very best community spaces going forward – precincts that both nurture, enhance and protect the community."

The project is an integral component of City of Sydney's Sustainable Sydney 2030, which aims to replace 30 per cent of 2030 potable water demand. The park now captures and cleans 850 million litres of stormwater a year, making it available for re-use. At the same time, the reinvigorated park provides much-needed open space for relaxation and recreation in this high-density inner-city neighbourhood.

Native animal habitat was carefully considered and improved, with the wetlands now boasting the highest population of native bird species in the local area, including 22 wetland species.

The project was funded by the City of Sydney and built in partnership with the Australian Government through the National Urban Water and Desalination Plan. The design team incorporated multidisciplinary specialists led by landscape architects Turf Design Studio and Environmental Partnership. The team's expertise included hydrology, soils, ecology, engineering, and public art, as well as landscape design. The collaboration was central to the design process with the project also showcased by the NSW Government as a case study exemplar (link).

Turf Design Studio founder and project director Mike Horne said: "Turpin + Crawford Studio, David Knights (formerly Alluvium) and Mia Dalby-Ball (formerly Dragonfly Environmental) brought incredible verve, skill and openness of spirit to the project – their contribution cannot be underestimated. The City of Sydney also deserves special recognition for its curatorial rigour and commitment to quality on behalf of the community."

About Turf Design Studio

Turf Design Studio are multi-award winning landscape architects and urbanists. Our blended knowledge of urban design, landscape architecture, environment, community and infrastructure makes our profession unique in connecting people and place. Our creative and accomplished team brings fresh thinking to every project and strives to realise a site's inherent character through innovative planning and design solutions. The making of meaningful, beautiful places is an endeavour that we take very seriously, as both a creative challenge and project responsibility. We create memorable places.

About the Awards: One of the most extensive awards programs for architecture in the world, the Architizer A+ Awards aims to nurture the appreciation of meaningful architecture with some of the best design works showcased to a global audience of 400 million-plus

In collaboration with its official partners, Phaidon, NYCxDESIGN, and The Wall Street Journal, this year, there are 430+ projects shortlisted in more than 100 categories.

The A+Awards are judged by prestigious members of the architecture and design community, as well as luminaries from industries like art, technology, fashion, media, and real estate. Including Christian Benimana (Director, African Design Centre), Neri Oxman (Product Designer, MIT Media Lab), Dong-Ping Wong (Founding Director, FOOD), Amanda Levete (Principal, A_LA), and David de Rothschild (Environmental Activist),

The 8th Annual A+Awards also see the return of Architizer: The World's Best Architecture, an annual compendium of the world's best spaces, published by Phaidon. The book, which has featured winners like Zaha Hadid Architects, Steven Holl, Heatherwick Studios, and the National Design Award-Winning MASS Design Group, is the year's definitive architectural guide. A digital companion, Architizer: The World's Best Building-Products, will return in 2020 as the go-to product resource for architects worldwide.