University of Newcastle’s Delprat Cottage Landscape Remediation Project Wins Prestigious Good Design Award
Lead landscape architect from the University of Newcastle’s School of Architecture and Built Environment, Professor SueAnne Ware, said their project was a collaborative effort which aimed to harness the power of landscape architecture to repair damage to Country.
“The contaminated post-industrial sites proliferate across Australia and Brownfield sites sit vacant, often still housing the infrastructure that contaminated the soil in the first place.
“The Delprat Cottage site, located on the former BHP steelworks in Newcastle, now accommodates experimental gardens using low cost and natural phytoremediation techniques to restore toxic land.
“We are thrilled this project has been recognised at Australia’s peak international design awards,” Professor Ware said.
The Good Design Awards Jury commented: “This project finds an innovative, research-based solution to removing toxic soil and monitoring passive environmental approaches. The Jury commends the design team for this outstanding project that will no doubt drive innovation and future research into this area. Well done.”
The 2023 Good Design Awards attracted high-quality design projects from Australia and around the world. A pool of 900 entries were evaluated by more than 70 Australian and international Jurors, including designers, engineers, architects and thought leaders.
“To be recognised with an Australian Good Design Award tells the world this project not only represents design excellence, but it also surpasses the criteria for design innovation and design impact. The Good Design Award is an independent endorsement of professional design quality,” Dr. Brandon Gien, CEO of Good Design Australia and Chair of the Australian Good Design Awards said.
The Australian Good Design Awards is the country’s oldest and most prestigious international awards for design and innovation with a proud history dating back to 1958.
“It is incredible to see how design has changed over the past 65 years. While we celebrate this important milestone for Australian design, we also pay our respect to the oldest living designers on this planet who have been designing and creating for more than 65,000 years. We have such a deeply rich and diverse design culture in Australia to draw and learn from as we shape the next 65 years of design,” said Dr. Gien.
“Some of the Award-winning projects from this year’s Good Design Awards are truly ground-breaking. There are so many inspiring impact-led projects this year that have embraced the power of design as a problem-solving tool – their design stories deserve to be recognised and celebrated at the highest level. We are proud to continue the legacy of celebrating design, and designers making a positive impact on our world. The Good Design Awards showcase what true design excellence looks like, to inspire others to greatness – that’s exactly what these Awards are about.”
Projects recognised with an Australian Good Design Award demonstrate excellence in professional design and highlight the impact a design-led approach has on business success and social and environmental outcomes.
“The Good Design Awards recognise and celebrate the transformative power of design to find innovative, customer-centric solutions to local and global challenges. My sincere congratulations to all the designers, engineers, architects and innovators recognised in this year’s Awards – you deserve to be celebrated at the highest level possible,” Dr. Gien said.
The winners were announced on Friday 8 September at the 2023 Australian Good Design Awards in front of more than 1,000 guests from the design and architecture community.
Delprat Garden and Cottage will host an Open Day for the public on Saturday 28th October from 10am – 3pm onsite at 133A Ingall st, Mayfield North.
Delprat Garden and Cottage Project
Designed by:
Professor SueAnne Ware – School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle
Chris Johnstone – Bosque Landscape Architecture
Megan Murray – UTS, Phyto lab
Commissioned by:
Clare Nader – Infrastructure and Facilities Services, University of Newcastle
Landcom
Newcastle Port Fund
Newcastle Industrial Heritage Association – NIHA