A fun, culturally inclusive and accessible playground that’s been dubbed a vibrant addition to the heart of Bankstown has received a top honour from the peak body for landscape architects.
City of Canterbury Bankstown’s Ian Stromborg Play Space has been awarded the 2025 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) NSW Landscape Architecture award for Play Spaces.
Named after a former Bankstown mayor, the play space project is part of Council’s transformation of the Paul Keating Park precinct into a premier community destination.
Featuring bespoke play facilities, a water play area, accessible amenities and First Nations art, the play space received the AILA award in recognition of its contribution to the transformation and regeneration of Central Bankstown.
Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said the play space was part of Council’s work to deliver new and improved infrastructure to growing local communities.
“Ian Stromborg Play Space was designed in consultation with the community and has proved popular with families. It’s great to see the work that went in to designing it recognised,” he said.
“We understand the best council facilities are those community members have a say in designing and I’m pleased to see the awards Jury recognised the play space for this.”
In their awards citation, the Jury said community input and incorporation of First Nations stories, migration and contemporary life into the project had contributed “to elevating the significance of the play space”.
“The Jury recognises the effective process of engagement and communication with the local community that explored an appropriate balance of culture and inclusivity — resulting in vibrant bespoke play structures and respect for Country with ecologically sensitive strategies for the protection and enhancement of the Cumberland Plains woodland and Turpentine-Ironbark forests,” the Jury said.
ASPECT studios was the landscape architect consultancy with which Council partnered to deliver the play space, which was co-funded by the NSW Government.
After winning the AILA NSW Award, the play space project will now be a contender in the National Landscape Architecture Awards to be announced in October.
