Criteria
Overview
The Resene NZILA Awards recognise excellence across the breadth of landscape architecture practice in Aotearoa, celebrating projects that demonstrate leadership in design, planning, environmental responsibility, and cultural understanding.
Entries are assessed against category-specific criteria alongside the following core criteria, which apply across all categories.
Core Criteria (applies to all entries)
Design and/or Planning Quality
- Clarity of intent and response to context
- Quality of outcomes relative to project scope
- Contribution to place, people, and environment
Value
Entries should demonstrate value delivered relative to project constraints, which may include:
- budget or resource limitations
- programme and delivery constraints
- long-term performance and benefit
Climate and Sustainability
Entries should demonstrate specific actions and outcomes relating to climate and environmental responsibility. This may include:
- climate mitigation or adaptation measures
- ecological outcomes
- resource efficiency and long-term resilience
General statements of intent without clear explanation are unlikely to score well.
Tangata Whenua and Cultural Context
Where applicable, entries should describe:
- engagement or collaboration processes
- how cultural values or relationships informed outcomes
- the impact this had on decision-making or design
Where direct engagement has not occurred, entrants should explain the context and identify what guidance or kaupapa informed the approach.
Professional Practice and Delivery
- Collaboration and coordination
- Appropriateness of methods
- Quality of implementation and outcomes
Categories
Judging Approach
For 2026, judging is structured across two streams:
Design Stream
Design and built outcome categories. Shortlisted projects may include site visits where feasible.
Planning Stream
Strategy, policy, assessment, and masterplanning categories. These categories are assessed on submitted material only.
Important Entry Integrity Requirements
All entries must:
- have client or project owner approval to enter
- clearly acknowledge collaborators and contributors
- clearly describe the entrant’s scope of services where multiple parties are involved
NZILA reserves the right to request clarification or remove entries where authorship or permissions are unclear.
Submission Format
- Entries must be clear and concise.
- Avoid excessive acronyms; spell out terms on first use.
- Supporting material should enhance the entry but the submission itself must stand alone.