Bridgefoot Street Park Scoops Top Landscaping Award

Bridgefoot Street Park has won the prestigious Landezine International Landscapes Award (LILA) in the Public Landscapes category. The park development is an action of The Liberties Greening Strategy and this is the third award received for a project developed under the strategy.

Designed by Blackpitts-based Dermot Foley Landscape Architects for Dublin City Council Parks, Biodiversity & Landscape Services, Bridgefoot Street Park arose from a collaborative design process with the local community in 2017 and 2018, and this collaborative process continues with community involvement in the management and operation of the park.  Features of the park, such as bird boxes developed by Liberties Training Centre and a sculptural piece by the Probationary Services Bridge Project, as well as the Taplin’s Fields Community Garden in the centre of the park, have created a real sense of community engagement and pride in the amenity.

As a relatively low-cost project, Bridgefoot Street Park has demonstrated how beautiful, biodiverse public spaces can be created in stressed communities, providing a healing landscape and creating a stronger sense of community wellbeing. Noting the overwhelmingly positive reception for the park among the community and online, the Parks Services have in particular commended the unseen network of park champions who effectively protect the park through family and social networks.

Citing the park in making the award, the jury said:

“Bridgefoot Street Park is a story about public space, community participation, circular economy, and ecological measures, and, above all, it is a project that well reflects our growing care for social and environmental issues of urban open space in the 21st century.”

“Bridgefoot Street Park is an extremely well designed hectare of urban land. The jury also praises the universal value of Bridgefoot Street Park; cities of various latitudes will hopefully learn from this approach and will have a benchmark for a reference.”

Bridgefoot Street Park is open daily and includes features such as a playground, landscapes, the Taplin’s Field Community Garden (active Thursdays 6pm to 7.30pm and Saturdays 11am to 1pm) and The Mugshot Café (open daily).