Corporate News

Picture: Barry Murphy (left) with Villawood’s Rory Costelloe.

 

Ever wonder what goes into building a connected community? We asked landscape architect Barry Murphy, who has contributed to the vision and design of some of Villawood’s most recognised projects. Barry was lead landscape architect for Alamanda with its iconic pirate ship playground and Residents’ Club. He was the brains behind Armstrong, winning a prestigious UDIA award for his efforts. He’s currently working on Kimberley at Sunbury.

What does your work with Villawood involve and how does it fit in with the bigger picture of building a community?

I’m responsible for the landscape of the public realm for the overall residential community, including the Residents’ Clubs.  This includes the streets, parks, drainage reserves and other open spaces. I consider things like parks, trails, spaces for social connection, built-in passive security, lighting, landscaping and so on.

How do you get started when you take on a new project?

I start by thinking long and hard about how residents will live with, and engage with, their community. What they really need. It’s important the landscaping isn’t just visually attractive but provides recreation opportunities and inspires residents to use them. 

What’s your guiding philosophy?

The way we design our neighbourhoods has a huge impact on the happiness and well-being of people who live in them. The human desire for connection is very strong. There’s a ton of research to show humans are happiest when we have strong connections to other people – both family and broader than the family.

I try to design places that are interesting, that entice people outside the home and help them enjoy every day a bit more than they otherwise would, with plenty of options for activities whatever your age. I think many of us have experienced first-hand how regular sightings can gradually lead to friendship. In Villawood communities, whether you’re chatting at the park, cycling on a trail, or just taking your daily walk, you’re likely to see someone you know or soon will.

Are there any particular issues you try to address?

Social isolation and loneliness are real issues in society now. In our masterplanned communities, certain groups like new mums, people new to Australia and retired people can be especially vulnerable to loneliness.

Landscape architecture should respond to that, with things like street seating for a quick rest and a chat, playgrounds with enough to do that you can spend hours, or even a whole day. Places that invite you to linger longer and potentially meet a neighbour or make a connection with someone new.

I always hope there is some aspect of my work that will have a long-term positive impact on people’s well-being. I consider myself lucky that after over 45 years, I still enjoy my job and find it challenging and rewarding.

What’s it like working with Villawood Properties?

There are a squillion other landscape architects and developers out there but Villawood goes further when it comes to creating liveable communities. It might be big things, like investing in Residents’ Clubs with all the bells and whistles, or taking advantage of natural beauty by creating areas with beautiful views. Or little things, like the type of seating, or providing shade from the sun for gatherings in outdoor spaces.

What they all have in common is they change the quality of the public realm and create places that are different to others. For example, when I first worked with Rory Costelloe in 2006 at Alamanda, he wanted to create a mound on top of the park so that people could see the bay in the distance. The mound was duly built and the playground at the site was named Bayview Park.

Soon after the playground was finished, Rory and I visited it and he told me there weren’t enough seats. We installed extra seats to give people more options to sit in groups, or to use for distancing – so that visitors would have more options and more ways to enjoy the space.

He went further than that and had all the tables customised with stainless steel panels embedded for board games like mahjong and chess. This is just a small example of how Villawood’s sense of caring comes through the work they do.

The Urban Development Institute of Australia awarded you for ‘encouraging social cohesion via communal open spaces.’ What does social cohesion mean in layman’s terms?

The quality of a neighbourhood really affects people’s ability to develop friendships and connections with others that are essential to our mental health and even our physical well-being. Streetscapes, neighbourhood parks, playgrounds, sporting facilities and club facilities … these are the physical elements of connection.

I aim for design outcomes which are imaginative, engaging and functional, as well as environmentally responsible. When human activity and environmental sensitivity are equally considered, a community has a distinctive identity and sense of place.

Anna May