Porepunkah

MDG have prepared designs for the townships of Bright, Myrtleford, Harrietville, Tawonga and Porepunkah that prescribe contemporary and site-responsive solutions that enhance the unique qualities and characteristics of each township. The project was awarded both the 2018 Victorian AILA Parks and Open Space Award of Excellence and the 2018 National AILA Landscape Architecture Award, with the following jury citation :

'Alpine Better Places is an exemplary open space project that has had a transformative and immediate impact on the identity, function and broader touristic appeal of the small alpine town of Porepunkah. The Jury commends MDG for their sensitive and nuanced approach to the task at hand; and was impressed by the team’s ability to unite an initially polarised community through clever, no nonsense, and enduring design. Robust, connected and strategically sited interventions invite engagement with the streetscape, return underutilised areas of the town to parkland, and provide opportunities for pause and congregation. An understated, simple palette of furniture and materials delivers a sense of cohesion and narrative to the region, drawing on the picturesque qualities of its natural alpine setting. Elements are inviting without being fussy and offer scope for flexible future deployment at other towns in the Alpine Shire. This is clever, joyful, modest design that responds to issues of environment, social connection and active lifestyles through integrated design.'