A bold landscape design for Sydney’s second major airport at Badgerys Creek has been awarded the 2014 Landscape Architecture Student Prize by Landscape Architecture Australia and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA).

‘Adaptive Waves’ by Hassan Naddi pipped six other landscape architecture major works from graduating students participating in AILA accredited courses around Australia.  The premise behind Adaptive Waves is what Naddi considers the “untapped” and “usually shunned” source of airport energy - noise.  

The design sees a self-adjusting perimeter of landscaped mounds circulating the airport to abate airborne, traffic and heavy rail noise, as well as store airport utilities such as car parks.

Modules, services and additional soil can be delivered as needed around the dynamic perimeter through a modular conveyor system. 

In theory, Adaptive Waves would see noise harnessed, transmitted and circulated around the airport, while being converted to useable energy.

The project was chosen by the 2014 Jury consisting of Linda Corkery (Corkery Consulting), Deiter Lim (Tract Consultants) and Ricky Ricardo (Landscape Architecture Australia).

It was selected from a pool of seven major work projects from various universities around Australia, including the University of Adelaide, RMIT University, Deakin University, University of Melbourne, University of Western Australia and the Queensland University of Technology.

National Prize Winner

  • Adaptive Waves by Hassan Naddi, University of New South Wales

Other Prize Winners included:

  • Canopy City: Adelaide Heat Island Mitigation Strategy by James Butterworth, University of Adelaide
  • The Elicit Yield Anew Project: Recalibrating Recoupling Morwell by Kyle Bush, RMIT University
  • The Metamorphosis of Point Henry, Jillong by Tang Bryan Shen Siong, Deakin University
  • Landscape Transformation: Summer Palace by Hanying Wu, University of Melbourne
  • Ameliorating Agriculture: Cultivating Biodiversity by Christie Stewart, University of Western Australia
  • Ridge to Reef: (Re)structuring the Great Barrier Reef by Ashley Carey, Queensland University of Technology