Bridge Mall design gets national award

THE Bridge Mall redevelopment has been awarded a landscape architecture award in the civic landscape category at the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ national awards.

The $23 million redevelopment was completed earlier this year and the lead consultant for the project was Hassell Studio.

The win was announced earlier this week in Tasmania.

“It’s a great honour and a celebration of how collaborative the project has been,” Adam Gardner, project lead for the Bridge Mall Redevelopment, said.

“The City of Ballarat have been really engaged in the process and similarly a whole range of subcontractors worked on the project as well the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Corporation.

“I think it’s nice that working together in a really big group we’ve managed to achieve something that is being nationally recognised.”

The project was completed in collaboration with community and Wadawurrung Traditional Owners and included a landscaped entry, a portal to view the Yarrowee, reflections of Wadawurrung Traditional Owners’ history and culture, 20 short term car parks, smart lighting, a play space, bollards, and a shared zone with a 10-kilometre per hour speed limit.

“The project highlights how landscape architecture can really lead social and environmental change,” Mr Gardner said.

“I think the project’s really been underpinned by the layered history of Ballarat and the new public space repositions the precinct as a distinctive, thriving and connected civic destination.”

The jury said the area balances vehicle access with pedestrian priority and includes space for play and green gathering.

“What really stood out was this was a challenging project, because it had been a mall for a very long time, and it had been a pedestrian only space,” jury chair Kate Luckraft said.

“What the jury thought was a really excellent outcome was the way cars were carefully reintroduced but the experience for pedestrians was made better.

“There were more comfortable places to sit around adjacent gardens and under the shade of trees, it brought a whole new play space into the mall, and the new design reflects the culture and history of Ballarat.”