When considering landscaping design, and the use of natural materials, sandstone is an incredibly diverse product for structural landscaping when applied to sandstone retaining walls, sandstone fencing, sandstone paths fashioned from sandstone pavers (including crazy paving designs), sandstone steps and rise combos (natural stone steppers), Sandstone cladding, Sandstone feature walls, Sandstone edging and capping products, water features, ornamental ponds and other ornamental structures and bespoke sandstone artworks, etc.
Sandstone boulders, rocks and landscaping logs and blocks can act as barriers against trespass by vehicles and delineate borders for parking spaces in reserves and parks and similar functional sites.Gosford quarries also offer a variety of retaining and edging options that can be customised in size, texture, shape and colour to create outstanding features and incredible design.
Public fire pits, yarning circles, public seating and community gathering structures often use our hydrasplit sandstone blocks and sandstone landscaping logs placed curvate, onsite.
Gosford Quarries also supply bespoke sculptures and communal artwork centrepieces fashioned from sandstone (CNC* profiled sandstone sculptures) which are easily installed and placed onsite.
Gosford Quarries sandstone products are all extracted and processed locally in NSW and can be delivered direct from our quarries and factories to your site.
*CNC Profiled products are bespoke products created using Gosford quarries exclusive CNC profiling machinery and state of the art technology. These bespoke profiled and artistic pieces involve considerable effort and processing time. Gosford Quarries are 100% Australian family owned and operated and with you from design to delivery - from quarry, to factory, to site so you can be guaranteed quality, honesty and efficiency with every project.
“Yarning circles and similar installations promoting a public gathering, a meeting place, a focal gathering place, can be designed with sandstone as the material feature with its colours, textures and natural aesthetics, while providing practical and functional aspects to the site.”
Sandstone Labyrinth, Sydney’s Centennial Park -Gosford Quarries Wondabyne Sandstone Colour Range, Profiled and Carved to Artistic Detail
In fact, there are Government and Council directives where civil designers and council and commercial landscapers must fulfil the placement and use of artistic features, community features or community spaces. These are non-negotiable in projects of a certain type, size and scope.
A sandstone project can be a wonderful, rewarding and long-lasting monument to a designer’s memory, to artists involved, to the people and the community to which any structure of societal significance will belong.
Urban renewal areas, large scale commercial projects involving landscaped areas all have these directives cited in place. There is an ‘Interim Guideline for Public Art in Private Developments’ specifically for civil and commercial landscaping, but applied to larger scope as well. It also applies to wider residential, commercial and industrial applications of landscaping design.
In fact, this forms part of Sydney’s wider ‘Public Art Policy’.
These guidelines apply to all:
urban renewal areas requiring a master plan or stage 1 development application
privately initiated multiple residential, commercial or industrial projects which include a significant amount of public (or publicly accessible) space or which have a construction value exceeding $10 million.
Barangaroo Random Rustic Sandstone Blocks - Custom Cut by Gosford Quarries - Sandstone Wall Solutions, Installer
Check out Twitter and Dyuralya Square, Waterloo - Lord Mayor Clover Moore at the opening of Dyuralya Square, Waterloo Sydney. CNC Profiled Sawn Feature Sandstone Blocks in a Light brown Sandstone Colour Range - Project installed by Structus.
Civil Sandstone Products for Public Spaces, Walkways, Nature Tracks And Adventure Paths
Macquarie University Creek and Outdoor Landscaping Custom Sawn Sandstone Blocks and Civil Materials - GJ Landscape, Installer
For less formal landscaping initiatives, public spaces like walkways, nature tracks and adventure paths leading one on a journey through nature scapes can all have sandstone logs, billets and solid walling blocks considered as borders and formal and informal boundaries.
Many NSW, VIC and QLD councils have used sandstone blocks for seating, blending naturally and beautifully into their surroundings. The beauty of sandstone is the customisable nature of the material which ensures that each project is unique.
Golf courses can also feature sandstone products used as boundary fences, retaining walls and sandstone blocks and logs are often installed to guide and act to inscribe perimeters around national parks.
Sandstone Inspired Play Areas in Public Parks
Marlborough Reserve Playground (Waverley Council) - Gosford Quarries Buff Sawn and Curved Blocks to Detail
“Play areas can also have sandstone products used functionally and aesthetically in their design.”
Like any park space where there are functional areas encouraging human interaction, play and recreation, the concern of the landscaping architect and civil designer is to create spaces that enhance or encourage connection with nature and community first and foremost, with opportunities for fun, exploration and to access joy, living in the moment and enjoying life.
Bungarribee Park Playground - Gosford Quarries Medium Brown Profiled Carved Sandstone Blocks in Water - JMD Design
Waverley Council have created two wonderful documents of reference from both community consultation and their own research and planning material you also may like to learn about
AILA NSW Designing with Sandstone, November 2021 Webinar
Recently AILA (Australian Institute of Landscape Architects) hosted a webinar in conjunction with Gosford Quarries and local councils from Waverley and Cessnock and an architectural landscaping firm, Moir Landscape Architecture.
AILA Designing with Sandstone Overview
An informative webinar showcasing the use of sandstone in playground design. Join Carl Nugent (Waverley City Council) , Matt Gordon (Cessnock City Council), Yong Zhang (Moir Landscape Architecture) in conjunction with NSW Partner Gosford Quarries where they share their experiences designing and constructing with sandstone in playground projects in NSW.
The content in this webinar gives further depth and context to both this article, and the other ODS article published last week which you can read here.
Some Sandstone Products For Public Schools and Private schools Gosford Quarries Has Supplied
Macquarie University Landscape Amphitheatre - Kurrajong Buff Sandstone Colour Range - Gosford Quarries Sawn Solid Sandstone Blocks and Steps
“Gosford Quarries have supplied sandstone products such as retaining wall blocks, front entrance fencing, sandstone cladding, feature wall cladding, playground equipment, Yarning circle seating, paving, sculptural stone for memorial plaques and ANZAC Cenotaphs and commemorative sculptures to public, private and other Tertiary Schools and Universities.”
Proposing Sandstone Products And Sandstone Applications To Deliver Creative, Living Spaces For Public Art And Projects
Sandstone labyrinth, Sydney’s Centennial Park. Gosford Quarries Wondabyne Sandstone Colour Range, Profiled and Carved to Artistic Detail in Construction - Installed by Bondi Stone
Landscaping Designers also liaise with cultural officers and community planners, artists and community representatives looking to create spaces for community projects; particularly the execution of arts projects for disciplines like placemaking. Placemaking is “a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces”.
These ‘placemaking spaces’ promote health, happiness and wellbeing for communities with all that transpires within them. They are often a crucial and vibrant facet of specific space planning projects and public landscaping design ensuring public spaces retain their organic and multifaceted use, thereby increasing their intrinsic value.
Symbiotic relationships between Government bodies, Civil Designers, Landscape Designers, community leaders, Council members, artists, Indigenous leaders and the general public ensure an optimum design and vision when devising and planning new and renewed public spaces.
Public Artworks Created From Natural Australian Sandstone
Sandstone Labyrinth, Sydney’s Centennial Park - Gosford Quarries Wondabyne Sandstone Colour Range, Profiled and Carved to Artistic Detail - Installed by Bondi Stone
“Gosford Quarries are leaders and innovators in sandstone technology and thus take immense pride in having the capability to create unique, bespoke artworks that no other sandstone supplier can produce. We work closely with Artists, architects, designers and communities to produce sandstone into a variety of forms. These range from carved murals to solid sculptural artworks and formations with rich historical and cultural significance. ”
Being a natural stone material, our civil and commercial landscaping sandstone products blend perfectly with their use in landscaping design, having a plenitude of variety in natural stone product available to Landscape Designers in executing textural, coloured and profiled (CNC machined) shapes, limited only by budget and the imagination and envisioning of each individual landscape architect and civil designer.
Another primary example of this is the incredibly intricate labyrinth project completed in Centennial Park Sydney.
Sandstone Labyrinth, Sydney’s Centennial Park -Gosford Quarries Wondabyne Sandstone Colour Range, Profiled and Carved to Artistic Detail
“In 2014, Australia’s first sandstone labyrinth was built in Sydney’s Centennial Park with funds donated by an inspired community. Emily Simpson initiated this vision and raised the $500,000 required to build this replica of the 800 year old labyrinth from the Chartres Cathedral in France.
The Centennial Park labyrinth was officially opened by the Governor, Dame Marie Bashir on 15th September in front of hundreds of inspired donors and supporters. Wisdom keepers from 11 different faith traditions were present to bless the labyrinth on behalf of their communities. They walked in silence, accompanied by music composed specially for the opening ceremony by Australian composer Corrina Bonshek.”
Source: http://www.sydneylabyrinth.org/about/
Gosford Quarries were proud to be involved in this unique project and were responsible for the intricate cutting of each tessellating stone section which formed this incredible labyrinth.
Sandstone is the perfect material to express the original and individuality of every landscape designer due to its incredible flexibility in being quarried, cut and shaped.
Our Civil and Public Works Sandstone Supply article outlining our sandstone products suitable for national parks, public parks, nature reserves and recreation spaces is located here for further reference.
What Are The Benefits Of Using Gosford Quarries Sandstone In Landscaping?
No matter the scope and size of park projects and national reserve projects, Gosford Quarries is able to supply raw, quarried and higher-grade sandstone products (including sandstone rocks) at all levels of budget and in all sizes of supply.
Our capabilities as Australia’s largest sandstone suppliers with the greatest variety of sandstone products, sandstone colour ranges, sandstone finishes and applications in the country is second to none.
We also have experts who have extensive experience in civil and landscaping projects, from small to the largest scale in NSW, Melbourne and Brisbane. We have an in-house project management team and also can support Tender Applications and help you to properly specify and quantify the sandstone supply you may need for your envisioned landscaping projects.
Gosford Quarries can also advise on the appropriateness of different sandstone products, their application and suitability of use, both structurally in design concept and methodology, and installation at location. We assist landscape architects with trouble-shooting and ideas to be able to marry form and function in their design vision, while achieving a practical, solid product installed in-situ.
Our sandstone is tested to comply with all of the Blacktown Council specs when it comes to civil supply, and generally, our sandstone is tested to meet the highest quality standards and fulfil standards set for our industry to ensure a consistent grade and uniformity of quality in sandstone products supplied.
Architects, landscape architects, builders and councils put their trust in Gosford Quarries for supplying sandstone products to Parks & Recreation, public spaces and buildings because they have peace of mind with the quality of the materials, capabilities of our facilities and technology and efficiency of the Gosford Quarries Team
A version of this article can be found on Outdoor Design Source website here.