Urbanismplus Award for Excellence in Urban Design
In 2007 Urbanismplus established an award for excellence in urban design studies. This year’s recipients, Amy Zhu and Cameron Wallace, describe their projects below:
Amy Zhu – Middlemore Town Centre Project
I identified Middlemore as a strategic site for intensification, in the context of the Auckland Spatial Plan’s intensification strategy. It is well connected and the adjacent Greenfield site (previously a golf course) provides opportunity for development. I proposed a bio-medical focus, building on the existing major teaching hospital and employment anchor. The aim is to create a pedestrian focused Transport Oriented Development anchored around Middlemore Hospital and the new Bio-medical Research and Development Centre. It is designed to be a self-reliant and dynamic urban neighbourhood, connected through an extensive public transport network, and provide a mixed use of areas for people to live, work, and play.
Cameron Wallace – Wiri Residential Neighbourhood Project
Following group work to develop a regional growth strategy I undertook detailed studies of the Manukau City/ Wiri area to determine how the growth strategy could be implemented at a local level. These studies were refined to work at a precinct scale of selected masterplans around the Onehunga basin, identified as a key area for managing Auckland’s growth aspirations. For the final project, I prepared a detailed Masterplan as part of a wider redevelopment of Middlemore Golf Course. A key driver was the relationship between residential density, amenity, and the economic viability of urban intensification. In developing my final precinct masterplan, quality open space, and the enhancement and expansion of natural networks into the urban environment were critical elements used to achieve a more compact and economically viable urban environment.
See article: ‘Earning the Profession’s Respect’ as published in Landscape Architecture New Zealand, Summer 2012.