The Sanctuary, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve

Working with and interpreting landscapes destroyed by fire is a deeply emotive and complex undertaking. Designs must deal with powerful impulses and many practical details, avoiding cliché and melodramatic indulgence on the one hand, and the over-reaction of impossible attempts to prevent fire altogether in a landscape ecology where fire has evolved as a key part of regeneration cycles. The devastating fires of Canberra in 2003 indicated changed fire conditions due to climate change and also the difficulty of maintaining or mimicking pre-settlement fire-reduction patterns. In redeveloping the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, TCL needed to consider acknowledgement of the past, as well as the dramatic transformation caused by the fires themselves, while looking forward to a regenerated reserve that would attract visitors for those bush qualities it had prior to burning. The project was recognised with the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (SA) Award for Design, 2009.In : Tidbinbilla Nature Discovery Centre Type of work : Masterplan, detailed design and delivery of new paths, furniture, entrances and other elements for wildlife reserve and park. Extent : 52 hectares Built in 2005http://artenvironment.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tidbinbilla-nature-designe