The awards – the Parks and Leisure Australia 2009 Special Award for Integration of Play in Quality Public Open Space and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (Queensland Branch) Excellence in Design Award – demonstrate peer group recognition of the cutting-edge work of the Conics landscape architects, who have produced an environmentally sensitive, sustainable outcome which meets many recreational needs of the local community.
Conics project-managed the design process from inception through to delivery – leading a multi-disciplinary design team which included urban art projects, PDT architects and Conics ecologists.
The park – which was previously an old car-shipping yard inaccessible to the public – was opened by the Deputy Premier, the Hon Paul Lucas. It is a high quality, visually attractive community resource featuring 200 metres of Brisbane River frontage and providing for a variety of experiences. It contains large areas for informal ‘kick-about’ activities and more structured areas suitable for performances and exhibitions. There are also playgrounds, a tidal sandy beach, a riverfront cafe, BBQ and picnic facilities, public amenities and landscaped walking and cycle paths.
The park was sensitively designed to celebrate the site’s social, cultural, historical and natural context. An Indigenous artist was commissioned to develop a range of playscapes titled ‘Little Treasures’ to help express the site’s history as a place of Aboriginal cultural significance. The area’s history as a shipping wharf was reflected in the design by commissioning an artist to develop a history walk and graphic timeline – which was carved into the concrete pavers in front of the cafe.
Sustainability was a key factor in producing the design – with landscape and playscape materials being carefully selected to reduce environmental impacts. Wherever possible, materials used in the construction were sourced locally and recycled – including from the actual site, from other Brisbane port sites and wider surrounding areas. Drought-tolerant trees, plants and turf – together with rocks, soil, timber, materials for sculptures and beach sand – were all obtained locally, thus reducing transport-associated carbon emissions.
Mandy Rounsefell, who led the Conics design and project team, said “We are particularly pleased with the creative integration of art, culture, landscape and structures, which allows the entire park to become a recreation space offering a variety of experiences for all users. Its initial popularity can only increase as the wider urban renewal scheme progresses.”
Contact
michelle.priebe@conics.com.au