The Waterfront ...

The ongoing controversy surrounding the Zero Davey building and Mawson Place continues to call into question development on the waterfront, its control and the public interest.

The public dismay of these significant projects was highlighted through the Urban Design Framework consultation review conducted by the State Government that subsequently initiated the formation of the new Sullivans Cove Waterfront Authority.

The failure of both these developments to be either understood or popular should be of major concern to those formulating current design processes in an endeavour that past mistakes are not repeated.

Excellence in design is not a commodity that can be selected but evolves through a complex process that informs the outcome. If the process is flawed then the outcome will never achieve the design excellence that our unique city demands.

The Royal Australian Institute of Architects has recently published the national awards for design excellence. Since 1990, the Institute has provided the Walter Burly Griffin Award for Urban Design, and in 2004, the award was presented to the City of Melbourne, in conjunction with Landscape Architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Paul Thomson and Architects Swaney Draper, for the design of Birrarung Marr, the “Festival Park”, next to Federation Square, that connects Melbourne’s ring of park land to the Yarra. (Links below)
While the design is specific to Melbourne, the process from its conception to realization is important to note as a model of design excellence.

The formation of the park originated from an agreement between the City of Melbourne and the State Government in 1998, however the park is a component of an overall plan of Melbourne as a ‘park city’ that was developed through the ‘Grids and Greenery’ philosophy by the City of Melbourne Urban Design Department for over twenty years.

This expertise was combined with workshops with international participants and consultation to produce briefing documents that set the goals and parameters of the project while the design and construction was realized through a multi disciplined design team. The park design “successfully combines references to the site’s natural and cultural history, including its riverine geology and the railways, which represent important elements of Melbourne’s civic imagery.” (awards jury citation)

At Birrarung Marr design excellence has been achieved as a result of a coordinated and long term approach to urban design with a vision for the entire city, and by a design office specifically required to develop this understanding, while collaborating with contemporary design practitioners from both architecture and landscape for its implementation.

Sydney City recently held a competition for the design of the redevelopment of the Carlton and United Brewery complex in the centre of the city. The competition, funded by the developer, was to establish the urban design parameters for a ‘lively, urban quarter, structuring commercial, retail and some community uses around a significant residential core.”

Design competitions are a mandatory requirement for Sydney projects above a specific size and limited to appropriate designers. The competition process is significant as it incorporated a public review at the conclusion of stage 1, with designers then proceeding with completing designs in stage 2.

The competition also allowed for entrants to develop two schemes, a compliant proposal that met the guidelines for both the city and the developer, and a non compliant scheme that enables exploration of the site’s potential and capacity. This enabled the competition to both test and inform the ‘draft environmental plan’ and the developer’s program for the site.

Public places will be the key factor in success on the waterfront for the community and urban and landscape design should prioritize public space ahead of commercial development.

While the Waterfront Bill was being discussed in parliament, tenders for the urban design consultancy for the two principal public spaces of the waterfront, the Franklin wharf and City Hall axes, were called by the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment.

While the expert board and design panel has not been formed and subsequently the process has not benefited from their involvement. This first action of the new authority is premature as it has not had the design and expert input into the formation of the tender briefing documents or the evaluation of submissions.
The tender process as a method of achieving excellence needs to be questioned.
Will the tender attract the best local and national architects?

Are there sufficient resources to fund multi discipline teams of architects and urban designers, planners, heritage consultants, and artists ?

If we are to realize the aspirations of the ‘cultural quarter vision’, then this tender process falls well short at delivering the best outcome.

A large component of our local design expertise and accumulated knowledge of our city resides within the Hobart City Council and specifically their design department, Tecton Projects. The exclusion of their involvement in the design of these public spaces due to the state and local government stand off should be of major concern.

Public space in the city is instrumental to our democracy as it allows all people to freely associate and gain a greater understanding of who we are as a community.

A principal lesson of Zero Davey is simply that commercial architecture is driven by a focus on profit derived from maximising floor area with little regard for significant community benefit.

Planning and Design hold the key to constraining the excesses of commercial demands and maintaining and enhancing genuine community interests.

Excellence can only achieved if the underlying circumstances allow for the best.

More on Birrarung Marr ...
Birrarung Marr (1)
Birrarung Marr(2)
Birrarung Marr(3)

Paul Johnston is a Hobart architect

EARLIER