The state and territory finalists for the My Park Rules competition have been announced, bringing the nominated schools a step closer to winning a $100,000 transformation of a neglected green space in their school or community.
The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) and 202020 Vision launched the nation-wide competition in October to encourage schools and other community groups to come up with ideas for transforming an under-utilized outdoor space into a dream park.
The eight finalists from each state and territory will now receive assistance from a professional landscape architect before entering the next round of the competition process. The overall winner will receive the grand prize of a $100,ooo landscape architect-designed makeover for their chosen outdoor space.
The jury for the competition was made up of Lucy Turnbull, Josh Byrne from Gardening Australia, Sacha Coles from ASPECT Studio, Tonia Gray from the University of Western Sydney, Mary Jeavons from Jeavons Landscape Architects, Kylie Legge from Place Partners and Nick Forestenko from Jones Lang Lasalle.
“This initiative is not just about transforming one space in one school – it’s about getting schools and communities in Australia to rally together and seriously consider the importance of well-designed outdoor spaces for their wellbeing, today and in the future,” AILA CEO Shahana McKenzie said.
Over a two-month period 100 schools and community groups submitted entries that outlined their idea for a dream park using mood boards, drawings, videos and pictures.
The shortlisted entries from each state and territory are listed below:
- Telopea Park School, ACT
- Snug Primary School, TAS
- Marrickville Public School, NSW
- Baden Powell College, VIC
- Indooroopilly State School, QLD
- Highgate Primary School, WA
- St John’s Early Learning Centre, SA
- Centralian Senior College, NT
The overall winner of the My Park Rules initiative will be announced on 1 May 2016.
