2022 Victorian Landscape Awards

After a very successful first half of the financial year, LIAWA now turns its attention to its up-and-coming biannual Awards of Excellence in March 2023 at Optus Stadium.

A striking coastal pool and landscape design on the Mornington Peninsula, and a creative reimagination of the outdoor space at a school in Melbourne’s west, have taken out the top landscaping gongs at the 2022 Victorian Landscape Awards, announced this week in Melbourne.

C.O.S. Design

Camberwell-based design studio C.O.S. Design, led by Design Principal Steve Taylor, has scooped the pool at the 2022 Victorian Landscape Awards, taking home five awards, including the coveted Residential Landscape of the Year Award, for a sophisticated pool-and-garden design in Mount Martha.

Praised by the judges for its eclectic mix of plants, textures, materials and usable spaces, the landscape features a spectacular wet-edge pool flanked by locally sourced stone walls, creating privacy and drama. Featuring a combination of textural coastal and traditional plantings, the design is a functional and sophisticated response to the client brief, overcoming the challenge of a sloping block to create a striking, family-friendly landscape that sits comfortably in the surrounding coastal environment.

PTA Landscapes

Transforming the outdoor spaces at Mount St Joseph Girls’ College in Altona secured the Commercial Landscape of the Year Award for PTA Landscapes. Working in collaboration with the Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese, the design creatively reconceives the school environment by creating multifunctional outdoor spaces to accommodate student gatherings, performances, activities, workshops and outdoor learning.

The PTA team also took home multiple awards, including the Commercial Landscape Construction (over $1.5m) Award for the Altona project, and the Hard Structures in the Landscape Award for the Victorian Emergency Services Memorial in the historical Treasury Gardens in East Melbourne.

More winners

The Victorian Landscape Awards are an annual event that recognises excellence in landscape design and construction in Victoria. The award winners were chosen by a panel of judges from across the landscaping industry.

Other winning projects include an early learning centre playground in Glen Waverley using natural materials to stimulate creative play, a sharp and crisp modern residential landscape in Elsternwick, a modern pool project in Keilor East which stunned the judges with its exceptional design and execution, and a compact residential construction in South Melbourne delivering multi-faceted use of the space for a modest budget.

AbCam Horticulture took out the Nic van Diemen Award for excellence shown by a first-time entrant, while Warners Nurseries and C. Fulton’s were joint winners of the Supplier of the Year Award.

LVML CEO, Megan Flower, commented that the calibre of entrants this year

Winners

Residential Landscape of the Year:

C.O.S. Design, Mount Martha project

Commercial Landscape of the Year:

PTA Landscapes, Mount St Joseph Girls’ College, Altona

Softscaping in the Landscape:

C.O.S. Design, Mount Martha project

Sustainable Landscape:

UDL Group, Point Lonsdale

Residential Landscape Construction ($30,000 - $75,000):

Normark Landscapes, South Melbourne project

Residential Landscape Construction Over $250,000):

Esjay Landscapes + Pools, Elsternwick project

Commercial Landscape Construction (up to $500,000):

Landstruct Landscape Construction, Glen Waverly project

Commercial Landscape Construction ($500,000$1,500,000): Landworks Landscaping, Brunswick East project

Commercial Landscape Construction (Over $1,500,000):

PTA Landscapes, Altona project

Landscape Design (over 400m2):

C.O.S. Design, Mount Martha project

Documented Landscape Design:

C.O.S. Design, Mount Martha project

Hard Structures in the Landscape:

(Joint winners) Esjay Landscapes + Pools, Elsternwick project and PTA Landscapes, East Melbourne project

Pool in the Landscape (Pool Design):

C.O.S. Design, Mount Martha project

Pool in the Landscape (Pool Construction):

TLC Pools, Keilor East project

Landscape Management and Maintenance (Residential): Van Leeuwen Green Horticultural Services, Hawthorn

Landscape Management and Maintenance (Commercial): Super Gardens, Sandhurst

Nic van Diemen Award:

AbCam Horticulture, Camberwell

Supplier of the Year Awards:

(Joint winners) Warners Nurseries; C. Fulton’s

Apprentice of the Year – Horticulture, Parks and Gardens: Sarah Mulholland, Green Options

Apprentice of the Year – Construction:

(Joint winners) Victor St Claire, Greener Vision Landscapes; Liam Andrews, Brad Andrews Landscaping was exceptional, resulting in some very hotly contested categories in this year’s competition.

“As always, the judges were blown away by the creativity and craftmanship shown by entrants in this year’s awards. The Awards are a phenomenal display of landscaping excellence and serve as a good reminder to the general public why they should always choose a Master Landscaper when planning a landscaping project,” said Ms Flower.

“We now look forward to seeing our Victorian Landscape of the Year award winners go head-to-head against their counterparts in other states, to claim the Husqvarna Champion of Champions Australian Landscape of the Year award for 2022-23.”