A key project as part of the Wynyard Quarter, Auckland, revitalisation scooped two international awards on 27 September. The Auckland Waterfront project picked up the Rosa Barba International Landscape prize at and the Best Waterfront Project Award at the International Biennial of Landscape Architecture of Barcelona as well as the Best Waterfront Project Award at the International Society of City and Regional Planning (ISOCARP) congress held in Gydnia, Poland.

The Rosa Barba International Landscape prize recognised the Jellicoe Street, North Wharf and Silo Park transformation as one of the best examples of urban regeneration and landscape architecture in the world and beat a number of global projects, including the Highline in New York. The prize was presented to Waterfront Auckland’s landscape architects Taylor Cullity and Lethlean and Wraight and Associates at a gala evening in Barcelona on 27 September.

Waterfront Auckland also won the Best Waterfront Project at the International Society of City and Regional Planning congress.

Waterfront Auckland was only given 10 minutes to communicate how it met the judging criteria which included: quality of urban planning and design; comprehensiveness; good links between city and water; innovation, creativity and uniqueness; enjoyment and profit of the general public; sustainability and improvement of the environment; economic viability and success where the work was already in place. The project was one of nine projects from around the world presented to an international jury as part of the Waterfront Planning Marathon competition.

Waterfront Auckland was given 10 minutes to communicate how it met the judging criteria which included: quality of urban planning and design; comprehensiveness; good links between city and water; innovation, creativity and uniqueness; enjoyment and profit of the general public; sustainability and improvement of the environment; economic viability and success where the work was already in place. Competitors included Basel, Switzerland and Antwerp, Belgium.

Waterfront Auckland chief executive John Dalzell says the awards are a credit to all those who helped in some way to shape the waterfront into a lively public space.

“To have this acknowledged on the global stage is huge and it reinforces the feedback we’ve had through colleagues and the local public to date, that the Auckland waterfront is truly special and we have good reason to be proud of it and the great potential it holds for the future.”

See the video below for the design story of the project.