DRAMA: Ted Smythe's Waiheke Island design is simple and sustainable. Images supplied.

A RECORD number of entries in this year’s national landscape architecture awards is propelling the country’s environmental design standards to new heights.

A total of 127 entries were received by 10 judges appointed by the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects (NZILA), which is a considerable increase on previous years.

Announcements and presentations will be made at NZILA Resene Pride of Place Landscape Awards in Wellington this Friday.

Finalists are vying for the supreme award, along with gold, silver and bronze awards. Some extra awards will go to design and planning projects exhibiting flair for colour in context, and those with exemplary design or sustainability features.

Judges were assigned to one of three broad entry categories — landscape architecture planning, student submissions, and professional design projects.

Renee Davies, one of the judges and a recent past-president of the institute, says the large number of entries show that other professions are increasingly aware of the need to collaborate with landscape architects on every project involving structural change.

“If the nation wants functioning, appropriate, and beautiful landscapes and cityscapes, landscape architects need to be consulted early,” she says.

Australian judge for the awards, Niall Simpson, is impressed with the strength and depth of landscape architecture in New Zealand.

“When travelling around the country judging the entries last month, I saw real designer connection with the site. I was also pleased to see good water-sensitive urban design, which seems to be second nature in New Zealand — something Australian designers can struggle with.

“New Zealand landscape architects can really hold their own against their international counterparts.”

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FOLLY: A diving board to nowhere connects the house with the ocean.

Waiheke coastal project

AUCKLAND landscape architect Ted Smythe says the prime driver behind his design entry was simplicity and clarity. This garden was the result of close collaboration between landscape architect and client, and the landscape was developed over five years.

Before any building activity was planned, the resource consent planting — mostly anonymous coastal shrubbery — was strengthened with a framework of coastal climax trees, primarily pohutukawa, puriri and karaka.

As building platforms and terraces were formed various exotics, olives and aloe species — Dracaena draco, Chamaerops humilis — and cycads were added, along with swathes of lower growing native species and grasses.

From a sustainable perspective, all of the plants have been chosen for their ability to withstand with ease extreme weather conditions — dry in summer, wet in winter — and particularly intense salt inundation.

Retaining walls extend the architecture into the site paving materials. Natural stone cobbles and honed pebble concrete blend unobtrusively into the overall landscape.