A-maze-ing win for Bago Maze and Winery at NSW Landscape Architecture Awards

Designed by landscape architect Ian Mobbs, this is the first competition the maze has been entered into.

Mr Mobbs grew up on his family's property and said the idea of creating the maze at Bago Maze & Winery was to help draw visitors to the family business in the Port Macquarie-Hastings area.

"I grew up here on the farm, this is my family's property and I moved away to study landscape architecture in Canberra," he said.

"After a couple of years of working we came up with the idea of designing the maze. It was a bit of a creative outlet for me and was also to help mum and dad out with the winery."

The winery has been operational since 1996 and Mr Mobbs said they did struggle in the beginning to attract visitors.

"It's a bit of a drive off the main road to get here," he said.

"I decided to give designing a maze a try to bring some people out here."

The first plants that would become the hedges of the maze were planted on December 25, 2006.

"We then had to wait six years to open it to the public because we needed to wait for the hedges to grow."

Since the maze opened in December of 2012, Mr Mobbs said it has progressively increased visitor numbers each year.

"It's become a bit of an iconic attraction for the local area."

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Mr Mobbs said because the maze is now established, he decided to enter it into the 2022 NSW Landscape Architecture Awards.

"The award was for the design of the maze and it's good to have some acknowledgement of the work we have put in.

"We put a lot of thought into the function of the maze and how people move through it."

The maze was designed for people to spend between 30 and 40 minutes wandering through it.

The judges of the NSW Landscape Architecture Awards also made note of the sustainability practices used in creating the maze.

"All of the materials used throughout the maze have been sourced from the property, including the timber for the gates and the lookout towers and the stone retaining wall. All of the gravel also comes from the neighbouring quarry," Mr Mobbs said.

After taking out the win at the NSW Landscape Architecture Awards for Tourism, Bago Maze & Winery will progress to the national stage of the competition in October this year.