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2019 DESIGN AWARD RECIPIENTS

The ASLA Florida Design Awards Program encourages the advancement, expansion, and recognition of the Landscape Architecture profession by honoring projects that blend environmental and artistic principles that emphasize beauty, function, and the sustainability.

The following projects received awards in the following categories: Residential, Resort & Entertainment, Commercial, Open Space, Philanthropic, Preservation & Conservation, Planning & Analysis, Student, and the Frederick B. Stresau Award.

Residential Category

Fanea House

Mills Design Group

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Raymond Jungles, Inc. led the design and construction administration for the landscape of the Faena District, a 3-block stretch in Miami Beach’s scenic mid-beach coast. The Faena District is an impressive three-block stretch down Collins Avenue (between 33rd and 35th streets) along Mid-Beach’s scenic coast. With a vast array of architectural styles, individual project gardens, streetscapes, and public ROW improvements, the once disconnected features have been visually united through the provision of uniquely lush garden experiences. A notable feature within The Faena District is Faena House, a condominium that continually provides the feeling of an urban beach getaway. The design of the gardens at Faena House draw their inspiration from the surrounding architectural elements by Foster + Partners and the history of Florida’s natural systems providing all inhabitants and visitors with a garden that is timeless and appears pre-existent.

Seaglass

Mills Design Group

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Located at Albany, an oceanside community in The Bahamas, this private residence embraces the luxury resort lifestyle that the developers envisioned for their residents. Mills Design Group worked closely with architects, designers, craftsmen & contractors to realize this ambitious Island Estate. The scope of work included designing the hardscape, grading and drainage, as well as planting throughout the site. Specific items included design of the driveway and motor court, guest house courtyard gardens with pool, main house entry water features, and the oceanside terraces with elevated see-through swimming pool.

Rio Vista Residence

Cadence

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Cadence provided master planning through construction administrative services to bring a new vision for the property. Elements include the addition of a new free standing structure, a remodel of the existing garage into an open air cabana and the implementation of native plantings throughout the property. The design solution corrected the current disconnection between the two lots. The planting palette utilizes ferns, fragrant flowering shrubs, native palms and grasses to provide layers of visual texture. An arrangement of privacy walls and custom fencing constructed at the front of the property created an inviting threshold, while providing privacy to the outdoor living spaces in the heart of the property. A large lawn area for play is adjacent to the pool area and deck, while a more private garden atmosphere is nestled in the back of the home. Low oolite block walls stretch out into the landscape to define space.

Blue Planet

Raymond Jungles

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Designed and built for Canadian clients looking for a tropical getaway home, this Bahamian Estate functions as a multi-generational family retreat. Mills Design Group worked closely with the Architect and General Contractor on an aggressive timeline from first concept sketches through planting and occupancy. The transitional architecture maintains a distinct Island Influence, and the landscape enhances this design intent through materials and textures.

Illawarra

Mills Design Group

Award of Merit


Project Summary

This beachside Bahamian Estate consists of several structures connected by covered terraces and a large open courtyard with views through from the front entry all the way to the sea. The focus of the landscape design was to create a progression of spaces through the lush sanctuary of the protected courtyard, to a framed view of the sea, to the wide open and wind-swept palm lined shore. As the Landscape Architect, Mills Design Group used the architecture to their advantage. The center of the home opens up on the first two floors to connect the courtyard to the seaside-glimpses of blue sky through two stories allows the courtyard to feel more open to the seaside and makes the azure pool even more spectacular at night. Breezes flow through the space, but are mitigated by the architecture and lush plantings. The space feels protected but not isolated.

Resort & Entertainment Category

Hyatt Andaz at Mayakoba

EDSA

Award of Honor


Project Summary

Sitting on 1,600 acres of ecologically-valued land, the historically-influenced design vernacular of the Hyatt Andaz resort destination repositioned tourism in Mexico as environmentally responsible. Innovative planning strategies that complied with the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources 270 environmental requirements, preserved the structure and function of the fragile ecosystems and in turn provided financial certainty to investors as well as social and economic benefits for the local population. The backbone of the site plan expands the natural cenotes pattern to create a connected system of canals and lagoons that improve the quality of the mangrove forest and create a high quality authentic and immersive experience for guests. Showcasing a commitment to health and sustainability, the design illustrates the powerful role landscape architects play in creating places where people recreate while offering a greater understanding of the land, its people and sense of place.

Granite Links - A Vital Component for Boston's American Dream Remedy

Sanford Golf Design

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Just five miles south of Boston is a unique 27-hole golf course facility that offers more than just golf. Born out of a public call to improve our inner cities it provided an opportunity to save tax payers millions of dollars while creating a a long term environmental, economic and social benefit for the entire community. The golf course straddles 2 former landfills and incorporates abandoned quarries, ecological areas, Native American archeological sites and the Blue Hills Reserve views. By utilizing 10 million cubic yards of material from the Big Dig the Landscape Architect was able to re-contour both landfills, including the traditionally steep side slopes the landfills. The design of the course allowed most of the runoff from irrigation and storms to be recovered for reuse on the course and reduced turf area allowed for less use of fertilizers, pesticides and other resources.

Universal's Volcano Bay

DTJ DESIGN, Inc.

Award of Honor


Project Summary

Universal's Volcano Bay is the ultimate family-friendly attraction that combines the south seas culture, wonderful Central Florida climate, thrilling water rides and relaxing tropic environment executed at the highest level of quality to meet the demand of the international leisure market. Volcano Bay enhances the quality of life for the user, making it possible for people to experience an exotic, south seas island escape in an affordable way, without having to travel around the world. Volcano Bay is the third theme park to open within the Universal Orlando Resort. This 30-acre Polynesian-inspired, water-themed park consists of 3 distinct villages, 18 attractions, 6 restaurants, retail, real sand beaches and the 200-foot-tall Krakatau Volcano.

Commercial Category

Grove Studio Garden

Raymond Jungles

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Grove Studio is the proprietary office locale for the landscape architecture firm, Raymond Jungles, Inc. based in Coconut Grove, Florida. The studio is situated at the crux of Aviation and 27th Avenues. The garden envelops a renovated three-story building and extends into the public right-of-way along 27th Avenue. As a new variant of civic space, Jungles’ Grove Studio is one that immerses its members as well as the citizens of Miami in the botanical richness and beauty of South Florida. The studio embodies the design principles the firm has brought to tropical and subtropical gardens throughout South Florida and the world for over 30 years: simplicity, timelessness and biodiversity.

The Assemblage NoMad

Ben Noyes, PLA + Plant The Future

Award of Honor


Project Summary

The rooftop garden at The Assemblage NoMad creates a living habitat within the concrete jungle of NYC. Not only does it provide a space for members to interact, work, study, and meditate, but it also is a place for flora and fauna to thrive within the intense urban context. The narrow footprint and structural capacity of the existing 1921 building gave the landscape architect a restrictive set of parameters. However, through thoughtful design the landscape architect was able to achieve an immersive natural environment. The juxtaposition of the planters creates a natural circulation path and a hierarchy of spaces surrounded by a native plant palette that was selected for its seasonal characteristics and ability to attract fauna. All the elements from the hardscape materials and planting palette to the furnishings and lighting were thoughtfully chosen to blend into this urban NYC context, yet create a refuge for users.

Open Space Category

Julien B. Lane Riverfront Park

Civtas, Inc.

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park is located on the HIllsborough River and is the centerpiece of the city's West Tampa Plan. West Tampa is a historic neighborhood once known as Robert City, the center of African-American living, jobs and culture prior to urban renewal. In the 60's the neighborhood was cut off by a freeway and the core of Robert City was demolished to build this park. Initially successful, by the mid 80's the park had become a symbol of racial strife, police intervention, drugs and gangs. Eventually the community turned its back on the park and by 2013 it was partly dismantled and little used. The design team began developing the park program with 40 one-on-one interviews of neighborhood leaders and stakeholders. This process allowed the real story of the park to emerge - a story of lingering emotions and frustrations between the community and the city.

South Pointe Park

Hargreaves Jones | Savino & Miller Design Studio

Award of Excellence


Project Summary

South Pointe Park is a 19-acre park located along Government Cut, Miami's Atlantic Ocean gateway, and at the southern tip of Miami Beach. The design resolved issues of urban connectivity and shoreline resiliency, with rich programming, and an array of flexible open spaces for different activities. The ecologically-restorative planting design and robust tree preservation strategy has created a lush coastal hammock landscape that is sustainable and contributes to the park’s resiliency. The park’s design takes advantage of the site’s spectacular views and direct access to both the beaches and the bayfront. South Pointe Park has become a destination for tourists and a significant amenity for residents. The enormous success is demonstrated by the tremendous growth in the neighborhood and the crowds of people visiting the park each day.

The Parks at Starkey Ranch - A Unique Model of Community Amenity Design

Dix.Hite + Partners

Award of Merit


Project Summary

The parks at Starkey Ranch compose a cohesive series of context-sensitive open spaces, honoring the land’s history, connecting people to nature, and creating a sense of place. In place of the traditional master amenity area, the design team alongside the developer planned a series of well-connected parks and open spaces – each serving a role to the community and providing unique experiences. Like a ranch, each park is multi-functional and designed in response to the land. Each park tells the site’s history, respects the surrounding wetlands, increases tree canopy on the former farmland, and protects habitat for native wildlife. The parks provide space for families to gather with neighbors, play with their children and pets, celebrate special events, and appreciate natural Florida. By creating multiple spaces throughout the community, rather than one amenity, the system of parks at Starkey Ranch encourages these activities to take place.

PK Avenue Complete Street

S&ME. Inc.

Award of Merit


Project Summary

S&ME developed the master plan, conceptual streetscape design and landscape architectural construction documents for Auburndale’s five-block Pilaklakaha Avenue (PK Avenue) complete street project. The project entailed a lane reduction from four lanes to two lanes, a multipurpose trail, on-street parking and rain gardens in this section of roadway that transitions from residential neighborhoods to the City’s historic downtown core. Multiple sustainable stormwater strategies were utilized on this project, including the use of permeable pavers in the parallel parking spaces as well as the use of rain gardens, which pretreat and detain the water for infiltration prior to outfall into new stormwater basin. A portion of the project is funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. As a result of the project, the City has seen re-investment into the surrounding neighborhoods and businesses.

Victory Pointe Park

GAI Consultants | Community Solutions Group

Award of Honor


Project Summary

As part of the City of Clermont’s master planning process, GAI’s Community Solutions Group identified Victory Pointe Park as a key catalyst project for its downtown—a project that could satisfy the City’s need for a new stormwater facility and, more importantly, create a venue that relocates special events hosted by the City, and enhances economic opportunities for downtown merchants and restaurants. The park was designed to receive stormwater from a significant portion of Clermont’s downtown streets and provide stormwater treatment through filtration within a series of cascading filter marsh basins that reference native Florida ecosystems. The Victory Pointe Park project re-envisions the conventional stormwater pond approach to create a sustainable community open space amenity—providing LID strategies for stormwater management, a new city events venue, a wildlife habitat, and a signature address for adjacent future development.

Philanthropic Category

Mockingbird Trail

Cadence

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Since, 2014, Cadence has served as the creative director, project manager and landscape architect of record for the development of Mockingbird Trail, Fort Lauderdale’s first urban art trail. Funded by the Community Foundation of Broward, BBX Capital Foundation and a community crowd-source fundraising campaign, Mockingbird Trail is an exploration-based project that engages the community in the process of placemaking. Utilizing the Florida State bird as the project’s figurehead, the Northern Mockingbird is a familiar bird to residents and an avid urban dweller. This urban trail envisioned by the community for the community will eventually provide safe pedestrian transportation through the grown 8-mile Trail route, preserve and enhance disappearing urban green space, serve as a health resource for exercise, and provide year round programming with arts, science and education partners.

Designing the Pulse Interim Memorial - Mending A Community

Dix.Hite+Partners

Award of Excellence

Project Summary

In response to the community’s desire for a comforting space to mourn the Pulse Nightclub tragedy, the Landscape Architect, in conjunction with a team of stakeholders, created a vision for a temporary memorial to serve the community until a permanent memorial was built. The design is inspired by patterns of use observed on the site prior to construction and the vibrancy of the original nightclub. Directing the flow of movement, using artful lighting, focusing interaction, and addressing the groundplane were key elements to the design approach. Since opening in May 2018, the interim memorial has received over 55,000 visits. Visitors leave gifts in the offering walls, write notes on the message panel, meander along the graphic ribbon wall, witness areas of the damaged building, and share moments of reflection on the “love seats.” What was once a fenced-off crime scene is now a welcoming space providing the community with a place to heal.

Preservation & Conservation Category

The Collector Luxury Inn and Gardens

Marquis Latimer + Halback, Inc.

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Located in the nation's oldest city, St. Augustine, The Collector Luxury Inn and Gardens is a collection of eight historic homes and grounds that have been adapted for re-use as a boutique bed and breakfast. In its prior use as a house museum, the property fell into a state of disrepair. The refurbishment of the property resulted in the repair and restoration of the buildings and a reimagining of the grounds into a collection of intimate spaces and lush gardens. All of the design and construction was done according to the St. Augustine Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation, and under the review of the Historic Architectural Review Board. In its new use as a bed and breakfast, the property has flourished as one of the top ranked luxury hotels in the City and has received numerous accolades from both local and national press.

Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice

Raymond Jungles

Award of Honor


Project Summary

Raymond Jungles, Inc. was charged with the restoration of the Ford Foundation’s Atrium garden, a historic landscape by Dan Kiley. The interior Atrium at the Ford Foundation for Social Justice has dramatically changed since its first completion by Dan Kiley in 1967. Kiley’s original design intent—an urban forest in the city—had been degraded throughout the years due to pests and environmental conditions. With this restoration, Raymond Jungles’ design vision in collaboration with Siteworks’ and other team members’ technical expertise brings Dan Kiley’s vision into the present. Restoring a garden inside a landmark building brought challenges: steep slopes, difficult environmental conditions, and complex access constraints requiring innovation during both design and construction phases. Together, with a visionary client, the design team was able to effectively and creatively solve preeminent problems. Solutions such as early procurement, contract growing, long-term acclimation, geofibers in the soil, and bare rooting trees allowed for the project’s ultimate success. The Atrium is again an urban forest as Kiley intended it: a respite and oasis of calm nestled in Midtown, Manhattan.

Planning and Analysis Category

Planning the Coastal Oaks Preserve - A Foundation for Preservation

Dix.Hite+Partners

Award of Honor


Project Summary

Coastal Oaks Preserve is located within one of the most biologically diverse estuaries in North America – the Indian River Lagoon. The Indian River Land Trust (IRLT), whose mission is to preserve, protect, and provide access to the Lagoon, collaborated with Dix.Hite + Partners to create a Vision Plan that celebrates the IRLT's mission through restoration, education, research, and experience. The design team performed site inventory and analysis to map areas most suited for preservation, restoration, or development. A stakeholder charrette and workshop provided further insight into the goals and mission of the Preserve. As a result, a plan was developed around three key activities: enter, gather, and explore. The plan includes design solutions that preserve the land and restore its significant ecosystems, defines edges, provides space for research and education initiatives, and creates opportunities for users to engage with the site.

Student Category

Hammock Bird

Florida International University

Award of Merit

Project Summary

Everything has an ecological function and consequence. Our environmental issues are so complex that no single discipline can provide a comprehensive solution to them. The natural sciences, human psychology and the aesthetics of manmade habitats all interact in the interdisciplinary nexus of Landscape Architecture. A dynamic interplay of strategies and procedures with the capability of transforming the environment, including the human experience within it. The hypothesis is to integrate the science of the ecologies of the Florida Keys, cross reference this information with locally sourced plant life and then distilling that knowledge into a landscaping guide that is both aesthetically pleasing and easy for home use. A “how to do it” guide for professionals and non-professionals alike, offering the rewards of planting native trees and shrubs while increasing the avian population. It's as they say, a "win win" for people and birds.

Movement and Dialogue through Materiality

Florida International University

Award of Merit


Project Summary

The Commodore Trail is situated in the community of Coconut Grove, a mix-used, lush neighborhood that hugs the shoreline of Biscayne Bay. The trail crosses through many beautiful well-shaded areas and is utilized daily by hundreds of cyclists and pedestrians due to its prime location. The trail is disconnected from its users and the surrounding context due to years-long poor maintenance practices and heavy automobile traffic. By using its strong community character as an asset, my proposal aims to transform three important sections of The Commodore Trail, highlighting its overall value to the community and increasing public awareness on pedestrian and cyclist priority. My project fosters a sense of inclusiveness and connectivity through trail design, and also by creating outdoor spaces that emphasize movement of evolving interdependencies and dialogue between the people and their surroundings.

The Loops Project

Florida International University

Award of Merit


Project Summary

The Warehouse District, nestled below Toledo's Downtown, was once a prosperous district but due to the job shortage in the 1970's, the population heavily declined, resulting in a vast, uninviting district. However, after a site visit we saw a rich history and character that we wanted to emphasize. Seeing the quote “Toledo Loves Love” inspired the Loops Project masterplan which activates the Warehouse District through tactical urbanism, identifies the community through four distinct sub-districts, anchored by major landmarks, and unifies them through a series of thematic experiential loops. The loops include the Green Loop, Sports Loop and Art Loop, that all overlap to create The Heart, where the identity and character is concentrated. These strategies are used to spark the evolution of the Warehouse District into a thriving community centric district by bringing humanity and love back to this post-industrial concrete jungle.

Echoes of the People Rediscovering Havana's Industrial Waterfront Community

Florida International University

Award of Honor

Project Summary

Echoes of the People seeks to explore the application of landscape architecture through a different prism: that of temporality. This project questions defining notions of landscape architecture to explore how immediacy and temporal experiences can, even in minuscule modifications, still hold the integral power of catalyzing change, shaping opinions about the role of nature in an urban city, and aide in the re-shaping of cultural identity. In a future of incertitude and where self-definition will be the key to communal autonomy, this project hypothesizes that the role of the landscape architect should be made up of light touches, respectful and minute gestures with surgical, deliberate precision intent not on the expression of the designer’s intent but rather on framing opportunities for the users to self-define their own adaptive identity.

Key West Resort

University of Florida

Award of Merit


Project Summary

The Old Key West Resort tells a story of the daily lives of the Key West inhabitants among the early 20th century. The architecture draws inspiration from the Cuban immigrants of the present and Spanish colonists of the past. The jungle-like atmosphere contrasts the formal plazas of the residential fountains, pools, and lawns. Meanwhile the developed coastline guiding trade ships in to the dock bleeds into the naturalized white sand beaches and marsh-like water ways. The Old Key West Resort is a paradise of tales and wonders that filled the lives of every person who called the island "home".

Parque del Recuerdo

Florida International University

Award of Merit


Project Summary

Located in Caraballeda, Venezuela, this Capstone project aims to develop guidelines for the utilization of the debris product of the catastrophe in the creation of public space, along with natural infrastructure and ecological restoration, to reduce the site´s state of vulnerability to recurrent events. The project showcases different conditions, focused on the generation of ecological and social resilience. This includes a proposal for a Memory Trail to reveal and enhance the reality of Caraballeda’s vulnerability to floodings & flows of debris. The trail also incorporates the debris in the paving as the main local material and a unifying element to promote sustainable practices and reinforce the community’s identity.

Nexspance

Florida International University

Award of Honor


Project Summary

This proposal is focused on the Warehouse District in Toledo, a historic, industrial city that is experiencing a number of struggling revitalization efforts. The goal for the project is to rethink how development can occur to revitalize the District in a manner that takes into account the values of open space as economic drivers and community-builders and to strategize methods of parcels’ developments and aggregation so that they in turn support those efforts. The suggested hypothesis is that through the integration of landscape strategies as a driver to the visioning, the role of landscape architecture as a custodian of the City’s rich history and as a vehicle through which a new identity can be forged with the influx of new economic opportunities and technologies, while celebrating the past history and qualities that shaped its character and established the cornerstones of the community.

Frederic B. Stresau Award 

The Frederic B. Stresau Award is named in honor of Fred Stresau, who is considered by many to be the father of Florida Landscape Architecture. The award is bestowed annually by the ASLA Florida jury to the professional award of excellence recipient that best exhibits innovation and design excellence. These works are truly exceptional and collectively contribute to enhance our body of knowledge. 

2019 Recipient: 

Designing the Pulse Interim Memorial - Mending A Community Dix.Hite+Partners

MISSION STATEMENT

Lead in promoting healthy and just communities through the design and stewardship of our natural and built environment.

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Email: info@aslaflorida.org

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