Engaging the senses
As a multidisciplinary team of talented people that specialise in designing, building, and maintaining landscapes, Morgan and Pollard deliver projects efficiently, communicating with clients and contractors to ensure optimum results.
The Selwyn-based company recently won a Premier Award for the Best Construction Project of the Year at the 2022 Master Landscapers New Zealand Landscape Awards for its construction of the Sensory Space in the new Rolleston Town Centre. It also won a Gold Medal for the best construction project over $100,000.
Morgan and Pollard also won the Judges Recognition Award for the Rolleston School basketball courts and sports wall. This project, designed by the Morgan and Pollard landscape architecture team, has created a vibrant and dynamic space for the children to enjoy and provides a wide range of interactive play.
The Sensory Space is an area designed for residents of all physical abilities and neurodiversity. The area engages all the senses with a mix of water features, musical elements, seating, gardens, pathways, and a pergola frame with space to hang art features. Adam Pollard, managing director, says his team thoroughly enjoyed the project and working alongside the Council’s landscape architects.
“It’s not often we get to work on such a large sensory space, and it was one of those projects where we could provide a lot of input, from choosing the materials to placing the mosaics and finding all sorts of sensory items. We’re delighted the judges felt the same way we did about this amazing project.”
The space was designed with input from Waitaha School staff and pupils and Barrier Free Trust and incorporated art from Selwyn primary school students, including painted tiles used in mosaics designed and crafted by Macs Mosaics. It offers something for everyone, like a wheelchair-activated musical timber boardwalk and an individually-placed river stone tactile ‘Rumblewalk’.
Council Major Projects Manager Phil Millar says it was exciting to see the Sensory Space and the work that went into it so highly recognised.
“When we started planning this space, we really wanted it to be a very special area for the whole of Selwyn. Morgan and Pollard put a huge amount of work and care into bringing it to life. It’s been great to see these efforts reflected through the smiles on people’s faces and their enjoyment of the area.”
The collaboration between the contractors, designers, and Selwyn community has created a unique space that is enjoyable for all.