The resort town’s new lakefront development won an International Federation of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence, announced at an awards gala in Tokyo, Japan last week.
The award was presented in absentia to the project’s New Zealand landscape architects Reset Urban Design, a specialist urban design and landscape architecture practice based in Wānaka and Auckland.
Reset was the only New Zealand practice to win an award at the international event.
Judges praised the Wānaka Lakefront Development for the quality of its design.
The project was commissioned by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) and created in three stages over an eight-year period.
Reset director Garth Falconer said sustained engagement and community input was key to the project’s success, along with a "resourceful" approach to working with a modest budget.
The Wānaka community and QLDC understood the value of their environment and wanted the lake edge to be a space for people but also offer strong connections with the town centre, Mr Falconer said.
A feature of the development was a 200m-long boardwalk to "protect and celebrate" the puteketeke (Australasian crested grebe) that nests on the Wānaka lakefront.
"For some years we have worked to support the wonderful local initiative led by Dr John Darby to regenerate the numbers of this precious native bird, which has now been crowned ‘Bird of the Century’," Mr Falconer said.
Carparks set back from the lake edge enabled the creation of an extensive lawn and a wide path that swept along the bay.
Queenstown Lakes District deputy mayor and Wānaka-Upper Clutha Ward councillor Quentin Smith said the council and community board were proud of what had been achieved in the project’s first three stages.
"It’s fantastic to see the vision for Wānaka’s foreshore coming to life and people enjoying better access, biodiversity and amenities," Mr Smith said.
— Staff reporter
