The Oval at Subi East, on Whadjuk Country in Perth, received an Award of Excellence for Cultural Heritage and a Landscape Architecture Award for Civic Landscape at the 2025 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) National Landscape Architecture, held in Nipaluna/Hobart, Lutruwita/Tasmania this month.

Designed by OCULUS and UDLA, the project is a generous, landscape-led, community space that honours living memories and existing materials while imagining a vibrant and connected future.

The jury described the project as a transformed “green space for future community life,” where “large civic gestures sit alongside intimate moments, creating places to gather, play and reflect. The result is a landscape that honours the past while inviting the city’s next chapter to unfold.”

“The Oval at Subi East is a benchmark in culturally-led landscape design, reconnecting people, Country and place. Developed in close collaboration with the Whadjuk Elders Reference Group and Aboriginal Development Managers as equal partners, the project embeds Noongar knowledge across interpretive landscape design, public art, planting selection, and Aboriginal business opportunities. Trails and green links connect heritage and community, celebrating the deep social significance of Subiaco Oval. With a focus on sustainability and reuse, the project creates inclusive, engaging spaces that honour diverse heritages while fostering long-term trust and establishing a model for collaborative cultural design.”

The AILA National Awards celebrate the projects and practitioners reimagining how we live with landscape and each other. Congratulations to the whole Subi East project team, and all landscape architects whose work was recognised. View all awarded projects in the 2025 Winners Gallery.