It’s nice to visit places we’ve designed after some time has passed and they have had time to establish. This is Olinda play space, opened back in 2019. It now feels almost as much like a garden as it does a play ground.
Browns Reserve in Abbotsford. We worked with Council on a make-over of this little park 15 years ago. Good to see the key design elements standing the test of time.
Checking out some play spaces that we designed a few years ago, including this one in Aspendale Gardens (being beautifully maintained by the City of Kingston).
The shortlist for the 2026 Australian Urban Design Awards has been announced and we’re happy to report that it includes our master plan for Kanamaluka/Tamar!
The master plan developed a vision for over five kilometres of waterfront in and around Launceston. But this is not your standard postcard waterfront - it is an estuary and wide expanses of silt are revealed every day at low tide. This silt used to be minimised by dredging and other activities, but these have ceased as maritime access has become less important to the city and as the environmental consequences of these activities have been recognised. The silt now creates functional and aesthetic challenges for the city, and some meaty issues for a master plan to grapple with!
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Things are looking lush and productive at the Willsmere Station Community Garden in Kew. FFLA worked with the City of Boroondara on the design and documentation of the garden which opened in 2019.
Bonus fact: Did you know that this site has now been used as a community garden for much longer that it ever operated as a station? Willsmere Station, after which the garden is named, only operated for 2 years (between 1891 and 1893). It was a part of the Outer Circle Railway Line that was planned during the optimism of a boom period, but opened just as the bubble burst and Melbourne entered a long period of economic depression. The former railway corridor is now the Anniversary Trail shared trail, named because it opened in 1991 on the 100 year anniversary of the railway opening.
We were in Tasmania last week for the official launch of our master plan for Kanamaluka/Tamar.
The plan addresses over 5 kilometres of waterfront seeking to reimagine the relationship between the city and the estuary.
The waterfront is characterised by high levees and flood gates that protect the city from floods. At the other end of the spectrum, low tide exposes broad natural mud flats. Both of these water levels provide functional and aesthetic challenges for the city that are at the core of the master plan.
It was great to finally get to have a look inside the new and very conveniently located Parkville Station, only a couple of minutes walk from the FFLA office!
FFLA recently completed our periodic business health check via the B Corp certification process. We’re happy to say that a review of our social and environmental impact has found us to still be fit and healthy! FFLA has been B Corp Certified since 2018 and we’re proud to be aligned with the B Corp movement, and the shared vision of business being a force for good in the world.
Anna O’Sullivan has had a busy few weeks in Tasmania. Here she is a couple of weeks ago collecting an AILA National Award at the ceremony held in Hobart for the Castlemaine Maryborough Rail Trail Feasibility Study. She was back in Hobart earlier this week presenting at the Parks & Leisure Australia National Conference.
(Photo via @aila_national by Alex Soares @huemen_media_commercial )
