SBLA Landscape architecture/urban design/art

Richmond High School is a great example of material reuse.

When Richmond High was initially built, a funding shortfall meant that the landscape ended up being primarily concrete. After a few years, the school fundraised and worked with the wider school community to develop plans for a new landscape that reflected their values.

Among other things, they wanted a landscape that foregrounded sustainability.

SBLA, together with the school community, Hallmark Landscapes, Aunty Doreen Garvey-Wandin and Emma Capper, decided to retain and reuse the existing concrete on site.

Expanses of the existing concrete were sawn into large slabs, while other pieces were stacked to reference geological strata. The stacks double as planter walls and seating.

Among the concrete planters are coir logs made from coconut fibre, which will biodegrade over time while stabilising the planter edges.

Loose concrete slabs form exaggerated crazy-paving pathways, which have been interplanted with flourishing groundcovers. The permeable paving directs water runoff towards acacia and blackwood seedlings.

Plants flower year-round, with wattle in winter and native daisies in spring. Together with the areas of lawn, these elements create many flexible spaces for play.

Read more about the project in Landscape Australia—link in bio.