2012 AILA National Landscape Architecture Award: Design
SW1 by Andrew Green (formerly Gamble McKinnon Green).
SW1 invites site residents and visitors to enjoy the soothing and enriching qualities of extensive vegetation.
The design demonstrates the groundbreaking establishment of an urban landscape entirely on podium, making it the unifying layer through an entire city block.
The landscape blurs the distinction between indoors and outdoors, horizontal and vertical, built and unbuilt, creating a contemporary expression of subtropical living which is sustainable, and supremely adaptable to future change.
Through its ambitious demonstration of a podium landscape, SW1 provokes landscape architecture to drive the design of inner city landscapes toward sustainable, holistic living environments.
Water tank and landscaping size are perfectly matched to survive a sustained drought such as Brisbane has recently experienced: all roof water is collected and stored to sustain plantings.
Masterplan.
The design employs the Queensland vernacular of the timber deck as a social space throughout. Decks ‘float’ over the ground plane, into and out of built forms, blurring the aesthetic and functional distinction between buildings and landscape, between living, work and play.
Traffic calming, shared pedestrian and vehicular laneways, application of CPTED principles, and the softening of interfaces with vegetation enable these public and private domains to function together successfully night and day.
Busy and popular since its opening, SW1 is making a significant contribution to the renewal and activation of Brisbane’s inner urban fabric, creating a subtropical urban place which is contemporary and sustainable.
SW1 is the catalyst for change in South Brisbane’s street life, setting a precedent for future development, especially along traffic-intensive streets such as Melbourne Street. SW1 simultaneously looks inward to its own pedestrian spine, whilst integrating with and activating the surrounding streets.
Planted build-outs, awnings, and plantings applied to the variety of open and permeable frontages soften and humanise the pedestrian experience.
SW1 successfully combines offices, cafes, restaurants, shopping, townhouses, apartments, and function spaces, with fully accessible and safe 24 hour public open space and secluded private gardens.
The landscape unifies six very different architectural forms across a city block in which landscape delightfully defines form, function and character.
A limited yet elegant palette of elements creates legibility and coherence across the site, while subtle changes in colours, tones and textures provide aesthetic richness and variation.
The landscape is experienced by users as shade canopies, cool tiles, rich timbers, lush arbours, fluid street plantings, and draperies of green creating a subtropical city oasis.
A limited yet elegant palette of elements creates legibility and coherence across the site, while subtle changes in colours, tones and textures provide aesthetic richness and variation.
SW1 by Andrew Green (formerly Gamble McKinnon Green)
Client: Property Solutions and Austcorp
Jury Comment
The strength of the design influence of the landscape architect is evident in the integration of plants with a restrained natural materials palette to unify private and public open space. This influence is delivered via a layout that provides a variety of places for gathering and a sub-tropical refuge and thoroughfare within the urban fabric of Brisbane’s West End.
SW 1 successfully employs green infrastructure in a seamless way to benefit the amenity and liveability of medium density housing and provides a model of sustainable mixed use development.
See our review of this project in Landscape Architecture Australia 132.
