The 2016 Landscape Institute Awards are announced

LUC won the Strategic Landscape Planning award for its work on the South Downs National Park. The project provided research to understand the nature of the views and why they should be preserved.

(Image credit: LUC)

By Harriet Thorpe

last updated 18 August 2022

in News

From the South Downs to Milan, a range of diverse projects spanning the globe have received accolades at this year’s Landscape Institute Awards. In the face of climate change and urbanisation, the annual LI Awards continues to honour those working in the UK to preserve and enhance the natural topography of our earth.

The project which nabbed the top honours of the revered President’s Award was The Green Infrastructure Action Plan for Pollinators in South East Wales, a plan formulated by TACP Landscape Architects outlining ways to enhance biodiversity in order to encourage bees. Where there are bees there’s usually a hive, and winning the Design for a Temporary Landscape Award was The Hive at Kew Gardens, designed by BDP with Wolfgang Buttress, a sculpture which hosts wild species of flowers and plants as well as cultivating a safe space for bees.

Image of a walkway across gardens in a housing estate in London — *Groundwork London received the Fellows' Award for Climate Change Adaptation for its plan to deliver low-cost climate change adaptation measures to three social housing estates in London*

Meanwhile in Milan, the Piazza Gae Aulenti by AECOM at the Porta Nuova Garibaldi development won the Design for a Medium-Scale Development award. At the heart of the piazza, a vast reflective water installation enhances the urban landscape and encourages community exchange. Meanwhile, the Crown Estate London Ecology Masterplan by Arup and the Crown Estate, which picked up the award for Landscape Science, Management and Stewardship, created plans for a green corridor through central London, holistically improving the experience of commuters and residents.

Social projects included the climate-proofing of housing developments in London’s Hammersmith & Fulham by Groundwork London, who won the Fellows' Award for Climate Change Adaptation; and the Colour for Royal Stoke Hospital, a project designed to enhance the recovery of patients which scooped the Design for a Large-Scale Development award.

Several awards focus on innovative research and planning such as The Local Landscape Planning category which went to LUC for the Woodside, Firhill & Hamiltonhill Development Framework, a plan created in collaboration with a community in north Glasgow which resulted in a new local reserve. The Landscape Policy and Research award went to Capita Lovejoy for its two research studies – ‘Trees and Design Action Group' – which explore concepts for integrating trees into the urban framework.

View of The Hive at Kew Gardens — The Hive at Kew Gardens – designed by BDP with Wolfgang Buttress – won the Design for a Temporary Landscape award for its beauty and function as a ecological enhancer allowing species to develop and attracting bees

View of Royal Stoke Hospital and the gardens — A plan to bring green space into Royal Stoke Hospital won the Design for a Large-Scale Development award for its wide-reaching effect for the improvement of daily life for staff and carers as well as the faster recovery for patients.

A design for Piazza Gae Aulenti, a new public square in the Porta Nuova Garibaldi housing development in Milan. — The Design for a Medium-Scale Development award went to AECOM for its sustainable design for Piazza Gae Aulenti, a new public square in the Porta Nuova Garibaldi housing development in Milan.

View of double page review journal — B|D Lanscape Architects won the Communications and Presentation Award for its *Review Journal*, which reviews the last five years of its practice including thoughts, aspirations, competitions entries and projects in a well-designed and attractive way.

Close up of grass with flowers and Arup and the Crown Estate in the background — Arup and the Crown Estate received the Landscape Science, Management and Stewardship award for their holistic masterplan to introduce a green corridor through central London.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Landscape Institute website

Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.