New Wombat Waterhole Entry Statement

Multi award winning ‘Wombat Waterhole’ now has a new entry statement and gateway. Working in close collaboration with Roger Goss from Bullseye the new signage is reflective of a Casuarina seed pod and is a continuation of the design influence of the entrance gate to the liberty swing. 

LASA Awards of Excellence 2012

WAX Design recently received an award in the LASA Awards of Excellence 2012: Design of Commercial Landscape for its project in Melrose Park working in collaboration with Energy Architects and Housing SA.

Life Support for Human Habitats Conference

Warwick Keates and Corey Brown of WAX recently attended the Green infrastructure: life support for human habitats conference. The conference was an initiative from the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources through the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide. The rolling conference consisted of a number of site visits consisting of the Bowden Urban development, Tonsley Park redevelopment, Port Noarlunga foreshore, Pt Willunga foreshore, Aldinga Arts Eco Village, Beyond development Victor Harbor and the Bluestone Development in Mt Barker. Several key speakers including Greg Moore, Graeme Hopkins and Paul Sutton discussed the benefits of quality open space provision, treescapes and placing an algorithmic value on open space in urban areas which sought to highlight the associated benefits through financial analysis. Other speakers focused on health and well being benefits and the need to seriously integrate natural systems into our cities.  

The day allowed for the development and refinement of ideas through discussion with a wide range of individuals.

Collaborative ethos drives success at PIA awards

WAX Design recently received an award and three commendations at the recent Planning Institute of Australia, Awards of Excellence 2012, South Australia. WAX was awarded winner of ‘Best Planning Ideas Award - Small Project’ for its Streaky Bay District Management Plan. The judges made comment that “The Streaky Bay District Management Plan is an impressive piece of work which has been underpinned by a rigorous and comprehensive engagement program.” The panel also noted “The report challenges correct planning practice by placing the assessment of demand and supply as the framework for the strategic direction of particular locations within the study area. Small locations and sites of the study are treated in a manner to enhance the uniqueness of the local environment and community expectations and at the same time produce a coordinated approach to coastal management.” The panel commented that the plan “demonstrates a truly collaborative approach”

WAX Design received three commendations including the Ministers Award, Cutting Edge Research and Teaching Award and a Public Engagement and Community Planning Award. The details for each project are highlighted below.   

Winner- Best Planning Ideas Award - Small Project: District Council of Streaky Bay District Management Plan working in collaboration with Suter Planners & URPS

Ministers Award- Commendation: District Council of Streaky Bay District Management Plan in collaboration with the District Council of Streaky Bay, Suter Planners & URPS

Cutting Edge Research and Teaching Award- Commendation: Best Practice Open Space in Higher Density Developments Projects in collaboration with the City of Charles Sturt Council, Suter Planners, URS, TECTVS and Ric McConnaghy.  

Public Engagement and Community Planning Award- Commendation: the City Plan 2030 – Shaping Our Future – Engagement with Children and Young People in collaboration with City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters & URPS.

Churhill Fellowship

 Matt Baida featured in this week’s Eastern Courier in relation to his recently awarded Churchill Fellowship

Eastern Courier Messenger : November 7th 2012, Page 8

Matt’s Fellowship research aims to build a much clearer understanding of the issues surrounding the success and failure for post-mining areas and how to protect local community’s once mining declines or stops.  From his travels he will start to develop a better knowledge on best practice community engagement, how communities have restored or reinvented themselves separate from their old dependency on the mining economy and how to creatively reclaim and reuse altered landscape where environ­mental systems have been permanently altered beyond recognition and function

As a landscape Architect Matt believes he can play an important role in meeting today’s environmental and social challenges associated with post-mined landscapes and mining communities. By accepting the impact mining has on our landscapes and moving towards a trans-disciplin­ary approach the creativ­ity of a landscape architect can have a great influence on social and landscape investigations. Through such input he will start to challenge the traditional means of thinking around mine site rehabilitation and move beyond the idea that the original landscape should be restored.

 ‘Landscape architects can bring resolution through a process of analysis, design and prototyping that includes consid­erations for culture, form and social concerns not allowing landscape planning to rely solely on engineering or scientific methods’  Matt says.  

By using science and design to inform and provide feedback for each other this leads to more intelligent results for post-mined landscapes and mining communities. Through this collaborative approach Matt hopes a new discourse between the mining world, community and design world can begin to pose the question ‘Is this really the best outcome?’