Bilya Marlee - a healing environment in Perth — LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AOTEAROA

UDLA’s landscape design for the University of Western Australia’s School of Indigenous Studies in Crawley, Perth, has won a 2021 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) Award for Health and Education Landscapes.

Located on Whadjuk Nyoongar Country, Bilya Marlee houses the School of Indigenous Studies, Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health, and the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health.

Bilya Marlee houses the School of Indigenous Studies, Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health, and the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health in Perth.

The site is positioned between Derbal Yerrigan, the Swan River, and a generous landscape space to the west. It is also bordered by a major pedestrian axis, “creating a place of learning, connected to country and celebrating culture.”

Finished last year, the project’s landscape-first approach follows an indigenous method of design. Existing marri and jarrah trees, some hundreds of years old, have been retained and protected, and endemic species planted to showcase flowers, textures and colours throughout the Nyoongar six seasons.

The AILA awards jury said the “the cultural narrative is an articulation of the beauty and balance found within this landscape, providing a forum for further learning as well as an example of what can be discovered if we allow ourselves to be a part of the landscape.”

A range of seating options provide space for outdoor learning, gathering and relaxation, and internal spaces in building are arranged to provide a connection to the surrounding landscape.

“With the landscape flowing into the form of the building,” said the AILA Award jury, “and the site oriented to physically and visually connect to the river, this project feels at home here.”

UDLA’s landscape design for the University of Western Australia’s School of Indigenous Studies in Crawley, won a 2021 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) Award for Health and Education Landscapes.

This building by Kerry Hill Architects curates three distinct landscape conditions: a ceremonial space at the primary entry, arrived at via a garden that celebrates the six seasons of the Nyoongar calendar; an inclined landscape plane offering space for outdoor learning and views of Derbal Yerrigan; and a quiet garden below a grove of marri trees. Retaining these marri trees helped to inform the shape of the building.

Bilya Marlee is located on Whadjuk Nyoongar Country.

Kerry Hill Architects say that Bilya Marlee, “provides a strong and legible presence for the highly valuable knowledge systems that Western Australia’s Aboriginal people have to share with the world.”

The AILA jury stated that, “the cultural narrative “a place of learning by the river” is an articulation of the beauty and balance found within this landscape, providing a forum for further learning as well as an example of what can be discovered if we allow ourselves to be a part of the landscape.”