Tract Consultants

We are pleased to announce one of Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA)’s newest Fellows – Tara Graham-Cochrane, Principal Landscape Architect at Tract Adelaide. Tara's Fellowship is an incredible achievement which recognizes her long term service to AILA and the landscape architecture profession. Over the past 20 years, Tara has dedicated her time to helping others by volunteering for numerous AILA initiatives, panels and committees, and through her generous mentorship of the next generation. Continuing to help others outside of AILA, Tara's career has seen her specialize in the design of therapeutic landscapes for health care, aged care and education - an asset within our field and worthy of this wonderful recognition.   Congratulations, Tara!

Time is a magic ingredient for landscapes... and what a difference just a year can make. These before and after shots of award-winning Bell and Preston Stations, compiled by Level Crossing Removal Project, showcase a resilient, sustainable landscape. With high growth performance and low water usage, the benefits of drought-tolerant planting are on full display. In total, 148,000 plants, shrubs and grasses and over 700 trees were planted. It’s wonderful to watch these spaces come to life - improving connectivity to support the social fabric, mobility and biodiversity of our neighbourhoods. #Repost thanks to, Level Crossing Removal Project.   Wood Marsh Architecture KBR, Inc. John Holland Metro Trains Melbourne

Grace: A residential oasis provides a unique offering in Sandy Bay, Hobart. Tract assisted the development team in securing planning approval in 2023 and was pleased to attend the sales launch event alongside Earl Projects (Claire Earl), Carta Group, Cumulus Studio, Inspiring Place Pty Ltd, Vos Construction and Joinery, Harrison Agents and the Property Council of Australia.   The project will deliver ten architect-designed, house-sized residences nestled into the landscape in Sandy Bay, with a focus on sustainable, uncompromised, and thoughtful design.   We look forward to the delivery of this beautiful project, and its establishment as a celebrated contribution to Hobart's urban fabric. 

We are delighted that New Footscray Hospital was Highly Commended in last week's World Architecture Festival Awards in Singapore and congratulate Cox Architecture and Billard Leece Partnership and the wider team on this achievement. Our landscape team has worked closely with Cox Architecture, Billard Leece Partnership and the Plenary Group team to create an exemplary health and wellness precinct that provides a generously planted public realm and civic scaled circulation spaces that encourages accessibility and integration of nature throughout. We congratulate the project team and thank World Architecture Festival for this recognition. Plenary Group Billard Leece Partnership Multiplex Victorian Health Building Authority Cox Architecture

Structure planning is a complex foundational part of the planning process which shapes the future built environment and lived experience of the communities who bring our activity centres to life over decades. However, much like the foundations that underpin the buildings we live and work in every day, the humble Structure Plan doesn't always receive the recognition it deserves for the detailed collaborative work it involves and its long term city-shaping impact.   That's why we're excited to see the Frankston Metropolitan Activity Centre (FMAC) Structure Plan has been recognised with a Strategic Planning Project Commendation at the 2024 Planning Institute of Australia VIC Awards for Excellence.   “The Frankston Metropolitan Activity Centre (FMAC) Structure Plan is awarded a commendation as an excellent example of comprehensive strategic planning and provides certainty to Council, the community and developers. The robust technical studies, including the engagement of Tract Consultants to address sensitive environmental and residential interfaces identified in the structure plan, led to creation of ten key planning principles. The preparation of a detailed Action Plan to support implementation of the structure plan demonstrates Council’s appetite to make the plan a reality. The judges commend the plan for being forward thinking in it’s ambition as it aligns with Victoria’s Housing Statement and proposed housing targets for council.” - Planning Institute of Australia   We congratulate Frankston City Council and celebrate with the wider project team. 

There is no doubt that climate, biodiversity and resilience are fundamental to the planning and design of our cities, and will only continue to play a more critical role. To make robust decisions that will allow us to plan for this uncertain future, we need data. But in our complex world, so many intersecting layers of data can be overwhelming and leave us without a clear and achievable path to action.    That is why Tract x OneMap developed the Climate Resilience Index (CRI).    We need data that is user friendly, presented in a way that can help practitioners, industry and communities understand how our neighbourhoods are performing, and allows us to work together to adapt and prepare for climate resilience.    That's why we're humbled and excited to share that the Climate Resilience Index has been recognised with not only one, but two awards at the 2024 Planning Institute of Australia VIC Awards of Excellence, taking home the Climate Change & Resilience Award and the Technology & Digital Innovation Award.   The CRI received the following jury comments across both categories:   “The Climate Resilience Index developed by Tract and its affiliate OneMap is an innovative approach that evaluates the capacity of neighbourhoods to practically address climate change. [The CRI] is a publicly available tool which is easy to use and can be built upon or used as is to support the understanding and advocacy for climate improvements at a neighbourhood level by the public, consultants, and councils alike. Applying four key indicators – amenities, transport and movement, environment and biodiversity and hazard resilience – across 24 datasets, the tool provides a view from the suburb level zooming to a single allotment. Having such an accessible baseline against which to evaluate the effects of measures which authorities put in place will provide ongoing assistance in ensuring climate resilient planning is the way planning is done. Good tools help us deliver great outcomes. The judges consider this tool deserving of the Award as by pulling together layers of spatial information which can drill down to a practical scale it is able to be used by the profession and public alike. The tool will strengthen professional and public knowledge enabling evidence-based planning system improvements to be put in place to manage this challenge.”   - Planning Institute of Australia   We congratulate our colleagues at OneMap and thank Planning Institute of Australia for this recognition.    But the work doesn't end here... we encourage our colleagues, collaborators and communities to work together continue to develop and innovate so we can meet the challenge ahead of us.    Visit the link to explore the tool yourself, find out more, and get in touch to keep working towards climate resilience together: https://lnkd.in/gPJFNxHP

Powerhouse Place has been recognised with the award for Urban Design at the 2024 National Architecture Awards.   "A sensitive and calculated response proving the power of 'less is more'. Reapproaching the original masterplan with a series of deft moves, Powerhouse Place tactfully considers the individual elements required to foster community and gathering within the absence of built form, while providing for celebration, function and ablutions. The expressions of the buildings are subservient to their use and the greater whole; community is put first, with their needs the catalyst for the reimagining of a gathering place alongside the Murray River. Powerhouse Place has an immediate sense of belonging – a curated assemblage of structures old and new, material palettes blending to make ambiguous the passage of time. The project fosters deeper connections to Country – teachings of Mildura’s past, the importance of its place and its relationship to the river – through the careful shaping of landscape and program placement. Powerhouse Place offers forth a meaningful and inclusive place for the community to enjoy, providing unique civic spaces able to accommodate events previously impossible to house within the city. It steps lightly and defines an exemplary approach to the sensitive transformation of our country’s colonial and industrial past."   - Australian Institute of Architects   We congratulate Public Realm Lab and celebrate with the entire project team.   #architectureawards #urbandesign #powerhouseplace #mildura #architecture #architecturedesign #landscapearchitecture #landscapedesign #tract 

Port Melbourne Secondary College has been recognised with a Commendation for Landscape / Outdoor Learning Area at the 2024 Learning Environments Victoria and Tasmania Chapter Awards. "The judges are excited to commend the Port Melbourne Secondary College for what it has achieved to push a design-led thinking approach that works hard at all levels of process and implementation to deliver as much as it can from a really tricky and constrained site. The result embraces a holistic learning environment where outdoor spaces are not just for the ‘outside’ - they are ‘classrooms’ brought into and integrated within the school using creativity, adaptability of form and function, and integrated to be part of everyday school life. The project draws well on its context and its place in the community to shape a rich and inspiring learning environment – and while there is not a lot of room on campus, exploring the indoor-outdoor relationship still feels easy, connected, light and open – exciting and fun!" - Learning Environments Australasia (VIC + TAS Chapter) We congratulate and celebrate with the entire project team. Billard Leece Partnership WSP in Australia Hutchinson Builders Normark Landscapes Pty Ltd 📸 Dianna Snape #leavic #ile #leavicawards24 #learningenvironments #learningspaces #landscapearchitects #landscapedesign #outdoorlearning #tract #educationdesign

Garden DesignFest showcases gardens across the state to demonstrate how landscape architecture can bring life to even the smallest of spaces.    We hope it inspires you to be creative, and invite nature into your own home.    Tract is proud to continue its support for Garden DesignFest in 2024, helping to raise funds for Impact for Women - providing hope for women and children escaping domestic violence. Find details for a full weekend of Australia's best display of professionally designed gardens across Melbourne and Mornington Peninsula on the Garden DesignFest website - https://lnkd.in/gDFJZZEa. 16 & 17 November

We're excited to see that our architectural colleagues Mark Mitchell, Billard Leece Partnership, and Paul Curry, Cox Architecture, will be presenting the New Footscray Hospital to World Architecture Festival (WAF) with week, a finalist in the 2024 WAF Awards (Future Projects - Health). Tract is proud to have been part of the comprehensive Plenary Group team delivering this massive project for Victorian Health Building Authority and Western Health.   Generous greenery and soft landscaping provide a natural setting for the complex of buildings, built around a central Village Green and four street frontages. Our landscape team has worked closely with Cox Architecture, Billard Leece Partnership and the Plenary Group team to create an exemplary health and wellness precinct as a key part of the community of Footscray and western Melbourne.   This year the World Architecture Festival is being held in Singapore from November 6-8, at the Marina Bay Sands.   We wish the team well.   Plenary Group Billard Leece Partnership Multiplex Victorian Health Building Authority Cox Architecture