A recent visit to Ballina on the north coast of NSW provided an opportunity to visit a 130 hectare area of new Koala habitat west of Wardell that Corkery Consulting was involved in. The project formed part of the Pacific Highway upgrade and provided a rare opportunity to contribute to the creation new habitat to support one of Australia’s iconic wildlife species, which is under increasing threat of extinction. It was particularly gratifying to see stands healthy trees beginning to provide new habitat for local Koala communities and a corridor connection between significant areas known habitat.

On a recent visit to Mudgee we decided to visit Gulgong on our way back to Sydney. While I was aware that images of the town are featured on the original $10 bill issued in 1966, it was a very pleasant surprise to learn that the images the $10 bill were from the Holtermann Collection and that the recently constructed museum presents that portion of the Collection that comprises 350 historic images of Gulgong during the gold rush in the second half of the 19th century.

Turn-off signs to Nundle appear at a number locations along the New England Highway south of Tamworth. While we had noticed the signs on numerous trips between Sydney and Uralla it was not until early this year that we visited Nundle. Located east of the highway and about 56 kilometers south of Tamworth the village of Nundle requires a detour to visit, so we decided to spend a night there to allow enough time to explore the village and surrounding landscape. The visit turned out to be a very enjoyable one that gave a delightful sense of discovery.

On a recent trip to San Francisco I took the opportunity to visit a new rooftop urban park located on top of the Salesforce Transit Centre located in the central business district that incorporates a bus interchange and provision for a future high-speed rail station below.

Designed by PWP Landscape Architecture the 2.2 hectares rooftop park is about 440 m long and 50 m wide. Inclusion of the rooftop park was a key element in the winning architectural design by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects (PCPA).

A quick look at a topographic map of Scotland reveals the strong and clear pattern of mountains, valleys, lochs and coastline that form the landscape framework of the country. I was fortunate to travel with my family in the Scottish Highlands in September last year for the first time and experience its spectacular landscapes.

Until fairly recently access to Myanmar, known as Burma until 1988, presented a difficult challenge after decades of military imposed isolation. However, the country is gradually opening up to foreigners and I was fortunate to recently visit the capital Yangon for a project in the central region of the country. Formerly known as Rangoon, the city is one of mystery and intrigue partly created by the period of isolation but also the cultural layers that have been created over centuries. One of those layers involved Hokkien, Cantonese and Hakka Chinese traders who settled in Rangoon during the 1800’s. However the dominant layer was created by British Colonial rule, which fundamentally changed the physical and social fabric of the city.

Pagodas are visually prominent elements throughout the landscape of Myanmar, earning the country the title "Land of Pagodas”. While pagodas feature prominently in several cities, including Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan they also occur commonly in rural areas.

On a recent visit to central Myanmar I was very fortunate to be able to visit a new pagoda under construction and walk though the internal spaces.

Located on the western side of Waverton Peninsula, the Coal Loader presents a curious relic of heritage infrastructure with an overlay of contemporary urban landscape treatment. Set in the context of Sydney Harbour and the bushland environment of Balls Head, the site was originally a place of physical and spiritual sustenance for Aboriginal Australians.

One of the great experiences of the New York Subway system is that you can enter it from the context of one urban area of the City and then pop out in another urban space that has a totally different character.  

On a recent visit to New York I left the rather undistinguished urban setting of 14th Street and 6th Avenue, descending to the subway and soon after popping out at street level on Roosevelt Island in the middle of the East River. Walking out on to the street I was confronted by the dramatic juxtaposition of the East River in the foreground and Manhattan skyline beyond, with the massive steel structure of the Queensboro Bridge looming above.

Located on the edge of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, Domino Park is the outcome of a large scale urban redevelopment of the former Domino Sugar Factory site. The 2.4 ha Park forms another new open space on a former industrial site that provides public access to the East River waterfront alongside the Williamsburg Bridge opposite Manhattan.

Walking towards the waterfront park through the dense urban fabric of Brooklyn the spatial experience is dramatised by views that open up between buildings and extend across the East River with the massive steel structure of the Williamsburg Bridge above.

As a landscape architect I find it inspiring to see how New York City continues to create new high quality and engaging public open space through adaptive reuse of post- industrial land. Having visited Phase 1 of the Hunter’s Point project in mid 2017, I was keen to see the recently completed Phase 2 during a visit to New York in September 2018.

When the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) first opened in September 1969 it was hailed as one of the most significant architectural examples of mid-century modernism in the United States. Designed by architects Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo in collaboration with landscape architect Dan Kiley and garden designer Geraldine Knight Scott, the Museum  achieved an integration of architecture and landscape through the creation of a series of indoor and outdoor spaces…  

Designed by Studio-MLA (formerly Mia Lehrer + Associates) Ishihara Park in Santa Monica is a great example of an engaging new public park created in association with a major element of transport infrastructure. The City of Santa Monica developed the two block long narrow space into Ishihara Park alongside a new maintenance facility for the Expo light rail Line.

Highways and major roads have an unfortunate habit of cutting through public open space to create disruption and separation. But occasionally that separation is reversed and connectivity re-established. Such an example is the Presidio in San Francisco. When the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937, the highway forming the southern approach cut through the Presidio, separating the army base on the higher ground from Crissy Field airstrip located along the foreshore of San Francisco Bay.

Recent visit to Memory Park at Hazelbrook provided a stark reminder that landscapes need time to establish and fulfil the designer’s vision…

Millennium Park is a 10ha a public park located alongside the commercial high rise edge of Chicago to the north and west, the Art Institute of Chicago to the south and Maggie Daly Park and Lake Michigan to the east. Originally intended to celebrate the second millennium the Park was opened in July 2004. By 2017 Millennium Park attracted 25 million annual visitors, making it the number one tourist attraction in the Midwest and one of the top ten in the United States.

When viewed in Google Earth the shape of this remarkable 285 metres long bridge resembles a snake with its head in Maggie Daley Park, tail in Millennium Park and belly stretching over Columbus Drive. Designed by Frank Gehry the reflective surface of stainless steel plates covering the sides of the bridge visually relates it to the curving metal surfaces of the Jay Ritzier Pavilion in Millennium Park, which was also designed by Gehry.

The capacity of New York to keep creating new public open space is inspiring. The lasts example is the Hudson Yards project which is using air space over a working railway yard with 30 active train tracks for the constructed of the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States. Covering 11.5 ha the development is being carried out on a deck over a working rail yard, three rail tunnels and the new Gateway Tunnel.

After entering Longwood Gardens through the Visitor Centre I was immediately aware of the carefully designed and highly managed parkland character of the Gardens. But this pleasant walk up a gentle slope gave no indication of the remarkable experience awaiting at the top. The stark facade of the Conservatory gave little evidence of what visual delights awaited inside. The physical discomfort of cold and windy conditions outside the Conservatory quickly gave way to a warm and comfortable interior with a spectacular display of plants growing within the light-filled space formed by the steel and glass roof with the distinctive trusses silhouetted against sky.

Located in the north-eastern part of Grant Park in Chicago Maggie Daley Park is named in honour of City’s longtime first lady, who was dedicated to improving the lives of children and enriching the culture of the city. The new Park incorporates a surprising diversity of play facilities and opportunities for children of all ages and abilities. Incorporating a network of curvilinear paths and layout of play facilities, dramatic topography and many whimsical elements the Park serves as a counterpoint to the symmetry and formality of Grant Park to the south and the Cancer Survivors’.