Parramatta River Strategy wins top landscape architecture award

The design to transform the Parramatta River foreshore has been awarded the highest honour at the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) NSW Awards.

Parramatta City Council enlisted the services of McGregor Coxall Landscape Architecture and Urban Design to design a complete rejuvenation of the 1.5km river corridor, which includes plans for a new ferry wharf at Parramatta Quay, vibrant outdoor entertaining areas, terraces and a River Square capable of staging major events and accommodating up to 10,000 people.

McGregor Coxall in partnership with Council last week received the prestigious AILA NSW 2015 Medal for Landscape Architecture for the Parramatta City River Strategy.

“This is a huge endorsement of Council’s plans to transform the Parramatta River foreshore into a world-class destination. The design created by McGregor Coxall will deliver a transformed multi-use foreshore that will be enjoyed by residents, workers and visitors for generations to come,” Lord Mayor of Parramatta Cr Scott Lloyd said.

The $200 million project was praised by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Awards Jury for seamlessly bringing together a “world-class public domain and high quality collection of new buildings with a dense network of accessible and active spaces”.

“McGregor Coxall’s City River Plan delivers an urban design process executed at the highest level through the clever use of supporting technical streams in the creation of a future urban precinct,” AILA NSW Jury Chair Julie Marler said.

“The proposed sequence of precincts and spaces are all framed by a re-profiled river corridor that naturalises the river edge, improves accessibility to the river and responds to the river corridor flood characteristics. All these initiatives have been designed to encourage people to visit the water’s edge and re-engage with Parramatta River.”

The public domain project will be completed in stages over a 20-year timeframe with funding from a range of sources including Council, the State Government and the private sector. 

“The project represents a successful collaboration between client and consultant team to achieve a long-term strategy for waterfront urban renewal. We commend Parramatta City Council for their vision and commitment to the environmentally sustainable growth of Parramatta," McGregor Coxall Project Design Director Adrian McGregor said.

The first phase of the project will be the development of Parramatta Quay to coincide with the $100 million commitment from the State Government to upgrade Parramatta and Rydalmere Ferry Wharves.           

The project will now be automatically entered into the national AILA awards being held next year.