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, landscaping logs and blocks can act as barriers against trespass by vehicles and delineate borders for parking spaces in reserves parks and similar functional sites. Gosford Quarries also offer various 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 supplies 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 extracted and processed locally in NSW and can be delivered directly 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 is 100% Australian family-owned and operated. They are 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.”
“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.”

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 particular type, size and scope.
A sandstone project can be a wonderful, rewarding, and long-lasting monument to a designer’s memory, to the artists involved, and to the people and community to which any structure of societal significance will belong.
Urban renewal areas and large-scale commercial projects involving landscaped areas all have these directives in place. There is an ‘Interim Guideline for Public Art in Private Developments’ specifically for civil and commercial landscaping, but it is also applied to larger scopes. It also applies to wider residential, commercial, and industrial applications of landscaping design.
This forms part of Sydney’s broader ‘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 that include a significant amount of public (or publicly accessible) space or have a construction value exceeding $10 million.

- 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

For less formal landscaping initiatives, public spaces like walkways, nature tracks, and adventure paths that lead one on a journey through nature scapes can all have sandstone logs, billets, and solid walling blocks considered 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. Sandstone’s beauty is its customisable nature, 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, which are often installed to guide and inscribe perimeters around national parks.
SANDSTONE INSPIRED PLAY AREAS IN PUBLIC PARKS

“Play areas can also have sandstone products used functionally and aesthetically in their design.”
Like any park space with 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, joy, living in the moment, and enjoying life.

AILA NSW DESIGNING WITH SANDSTONE, NOVEMBER 2021 WEBINAR
AILA NSW DESIGNING WITH SANDSTONE, NOVEMBER 2021 WEBINAR
Recently, AILA (Australian Institute of Landscape Architects) hosted a webinar in conjunction with Gosford Quarries, 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), and 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 this article and our other article published last week, which you can read here.
Waverley Council have created two beautiful reference documents from community consultation and their research and planning material.
You also may like to learn about the following:
SOME SANDSTONE PRODUCTS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS GOSFORD QUARRIES HAS SUPPLIED

“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

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, designing and managing public spaces”.
These ‘placemaking spaces’ promote health, happiness and well-being 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

“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 natural stone materials, our civil and commercial landscaping sandstone products blend perfectly with their use in landscaping design.
There is an abundance of variety in natural stone products available to Landscape Designers in executing textural, coloured, and profiled (CNC machined) shapes, limited only by budget and the imagination and envisioning of each landscape architect and civil designer.
Another primary example is the incredibly intricate labyrinth project completed in Centennial Park, Sydney.

“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 Governor, Dame Marie Bashir, officially opened the Centennial Park labyrinth 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 silently, accompanied by music composed specially for the opening ceremony by Australian composer Corrina Bonshek.”
Source: http://www.sydneylabyrinth.org/about/
Gosford Quarries was proud to be involved in this unique project and was responsible for the intricate cutting of each tessellating stone section that formed this incredible labyrinth.
Sandstone is the perfect material to express the originality 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 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 can supply raw, quarried, and higher-grade sandstone products (including sandstone rocks) at all budget levels and sizes.
Our capabilities as Australia’s largest sandstone suppliers, with the greatest variety of sandstone products, colour ranges, finishes, and applications in the country, are second to none.
We also have experts who have extensive experience in civil and landscaping projects, from small to large, in NSW, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Our in-house project management team can support Tender Applications and help you correctly specify and quantify the sandstone supply needed 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 troubleshooting and ideas 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 for civil supply. Generally, our sandstone is tested to meet the highest quality standards and fulfil industry standards to ensure a consistent grade and uniformity of quality in the sandstone products supplied.
Architects, landscape architects, builders, and councils trust Gosford Quarries to supply sandstone products to Parks and recreation, public spaces, and buildings because they have peace of mind about the quality of the materials, capabilities of our facilities, and technology and efficiency of the Gosford Quarries Team.
Why Not Choose Australian Sandstone For Your Home?
Call Gosford Quarries (02) 8585 8282 today for your next Civil and Landscaping Sandstone Project!