UPGRADES to West Head Lookout in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park won the top Award of Excellence in Tourism at the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects NSW State Awards.

Winners were announced at Chatswood’s Zenith Theatre. Over 15 categories saw 34 winners for the 2024 State Awards, with the jury noting a shift towards biodiversity and the health of Country.

‘Entries this year demonstrate the power of harnessing community involvement to deliver enormous social and environmental benefits, with process easily replicated providing an exemplar for others to follow,’ says Jury Chair Kate Luckraft.

OCULUS with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service headed the upgrade, restoring safety, improving access, and taking input from the original landscape architect, Bruce Mackenzie, to ensure the iconic site remained true to form. New native plants are incorporated into the structure, and the original sandstone walls and pavers have been refreshed.

The original lookout was constructed in 1965 to form an uninterrupted view of the natural landscape across Broken Bay to Lion Island and the Central Coast. Though, unfortunately, it began to deteriorate over time.

‘Sydney Bush School of Landscape Architecture retains the legacy of the original design approach of the lookout being subservient to the existing biodiverse landscape,’ says the jury of the Landscape Architects NSW State Awards.

All winners proceed to the National Landscape Architecture Awards held later in the year.