Barangaroo Reserve has won the American Architecture Prize 2017 as Landscape Design of the Year – chosen from more than a thousand entries from 68 countries.

In awarding the prize to Sydney’s newest harbour foreshore park, the American Architecture Prize jury said: “Barangaroo Reserve transforms a huge expanse of empty concrete into humane, usable space, marking the transformation of an industrialized site into a modern reinvention of its more sustainable past”.

The project was commended for the way historical maps and paintings were used to guide the design of the headland, the excavation of 10,000 sandstone blocks directly form the site to reconstruct the foreshore, as well as the planting of 75,000 trees, plants and shrubs native to the Sydney region. Barangaroo Reserve’s extensive sustainability features were also recognised, including commitments to carbon neutrality, being water-positive and creating zero waste.

Opened to the public in 2015, Barangaroo Reserve has already been visited by more than 2.8 million people and is a favourite destination for locals and visitors looking for a natural sanctuary on beautiful Sydney Harbour.

The American Architecture Prize is the latest in a series of awards for Barangaroo Reserve, including:

• President’s Award at the 2016 Australian Engineering Excellence Award Sydney
• Sir Edmund Hambly Medal at the Institute of Civil Engineers Awards in London
• 2016 Illuminating Engineering Society’s Lighting Design Award of Commendation 
• Four awards at the LNA Master Landscapers Association’s 2016 Landscape Excellence Awards
• 2015 Banksia Sustainability in Design, Build Award – Buildings, Landscapes and Infrastructure Projects
• Australia’s Project of the Year at the 2016 IPA National Infrastructure Awards
• Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) 2015 Parks and Open Space Landscape Architecture Award
• Architizer A+Award Jury Winner in the Landscape & Planning: Public Park
• World Architecture News (WAN) Waterfront 2015 Award

This feature article in Landscape Architecture Magazine provides an in-depth insight into the planning, design and construction journey of Barangaroo Reserve.