The landscape strategy at Rendu Towers was built primarily around experience and wellness for our older population.
As Landscape Architects, we had a wonderful opportunity to optimise health and well being of residents using the tool of biophilic design. Knowing that a connection to nature enhances psychological well being, our strategy was to ensure whether inside or outside, residents at Rendu would have a visual or physical connection to nature.
The canvas provided to us by Architects Conrad Gargett Architectus was expansive.
Three levels of above ground car parking sleeved with planters, a connecting podium terrace on level four, and a pool terrace to the seventh level provided ample opportunity for a layered, articulated, composition of architecturally integrated landscape.
The requirement from Brisbane City Council to provide a privately owned public space to the Newstead Terrace interface was also a unique city greening opportunity.
Our responsibility was to immerse residents in this opportunity for biophilic wellness.
Jury Citation (from 2024 AILA QLD Landscape Architecture Award for Health and Education Landscape):
“The lush, layered gardens of Rendu Towers celebrate the benefits of Biophilic Design and Place Based Relationships in the context of modern retirement living.
Collaborative leadership has delivered an innovative approach to ‘ageing in place’ that offers valuable experiences and genuine opportunities for residents to engage with nature, and the bustling community that surrounds them.
Using green to blur the lines between the private and public realm, the landscape response is considered and meaningful in a way that supports a more inclusive and connected model of retirement living.”