Image Credit : Images 1 & 7: John Marmaras
Image 3 Tyrone Branigan
Images 4-6, 8, 10: Florian Groehn
Image 9: Hamish Ta-me
Project Overview
Darling Quarter is a 1.5 hectare urban park and play space that has transformed the public domain of Darling Harbour, one of Australia’s most visited destinations. The broad project includes a new highly activated public park, retail outlets, 6-star commercial buildings, a Children’s Theatre and an innovative children’s playground as its public centre piece. The playground is the largest and most unique play space in the Sydney CBD and with its interactive water play facilities has become one of the busiest public places and a regional attraction for Sydney.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Full Consultant and Design Team
ASPECT Studios: landscape architecture and public domain design
FJMT: architecture
ARUP: environmentally sustainable design, structural engineer, mechanical engineer
Hyder Consulting: civil engineer and structural engineer for external works
SJB: interior design/ retail fitout
Waterforms International: water feature consultant
Deuce Design: heritage interpretation and signage
Lend Lease Design: The façade lighting design and the lighting master plan
Ramus Illumination: façade lighting (visual content)
Speirs + Major: lighting masterplan (critique)
Sub Consultant Team
Ausflow Irrigation
Sydney Environmental and Soil Laboratory
Construction Project Manager
Lend Lease
Contractor / Fabricators
Design Landscapes
Christie Civil
Waterforms International
Ausflow Irrigation
BASS
Kompan
Furnass Landscaping
Central Signs
Project Brief
The Darling Quarter project which not only included the play space but also surrounding a series of public domain experiences - the ‘pedestrian boulevard’, ‘civic connector’, ‘community green’ and ‘retail terraces’ extended the scope of the brief and completely renewed the public domain of Southern Darling Harbour. The design strongly restitches Darling Harbour to the city and creates unique experiences – at no cost to the public.
The design is the result of a compelling vision and brief for the project which was to uplift the quality of the public domain by creating new connections to the city and by layering a series of experiences to provide free destinational public attractors.
The design includes the following;
1. A unique water play space as the destination and centerpiece of the upgrades.
2. Bespoke interpretive elements.
3. New pedestrian and visual connections, from the city into the Darling Harbour.
4. Dramatic uplift of the quality, quantity and usability of public space.
5. Usability by people of all ages and cultural backgrounds.
6. Best practice landscape architecture and sustainability.
7. Improved biodiversity.
8. A space equally used by night and day.
Project Innovation / Need
Water play: The central theme of the playground is the water play area which demonstrates a new direction in play design in Australia. At approximately 1000 m², the interactive water play includes a pumping station to draw water to a system of streams, several with sluice gates and water switches, water wheels and a large water jet area. The design recalls Darling Harbour’s historical waterfront landscape setting by creating an abstracted river environment intricately detailed to create a variety of opportunities to engage with water. Social interaction is encouraged through the design and beautifully crafted play equipment stimulates the co-operation of kids and teaches the cause and effect of water movement.
Lighting: A new, energy efficient lighting strategy was implemented throughout the precinct to create night-time ambience and activation. The public domain lights use best available technology energy efficient lights and a dimming system reducing energy consumption by 60%. The lighting in the playground also creates a night time theatrical experience.
Green roofs + community gardens: ASPECT Studios also designed two unique green roof terraces and community gardens atop the new 6 star rated Commonwealth Bank Australia building. They comprise informal indoor-outdoor meeting areas, community gardening activities, and barbecues.
Placemaking: Central to the success of the project is the ongoing ‘curation’ of the public space. Deckchairs and rugs are brought out for public use everyday to the new community green. Custom designed ping-pong tables have also been made for the project.
Design Challenge
1. The previous ‘Sega World’ site was an underperforming development that was isolated from the Sydney CBD, the harbour foreshore and surrounding precincts. One of the major obstacles was to create an activated precinct night and day and provide pedestrian connections to the city and the foreshore.
2. The project acknowledged an ‘acceptable risk’ approach to the design, communicating the benefits of moving beyond the standard responses. Convincing all stakeholders of this approach was challenging.
3. Another major design challenge was how to incorporate the existing constraints of the site. These included a dense network of underground services and archaeological relics.
Sustainability
The project achieved a high level of environmental sustainability through the following:
a) Rainwater harvesting from the expansive building roofs at Commonwealth Bank Place for irrigation and water feature use in the public domain saving 94% of potable water.
b) Minimise the use of rubber and maximise the use of mulch and sand for softfall materials.
c) Use of plants that require low levels of irrigation.
d) Biodiversity - use of predominantly native plants to encourage fauna.
e) Carbon sinking - planting of large quantities of trees.
f) Use of recycled materials (base course, aggregates, soil).
g) Use of robust hard materials (consideration of material life cycle.
h) Use of highly energy efficient lights.
i) Another key focus of the project was social and economic sustainability. We strove to create a well maintained/used and free public facility that is framed by high quality food/retail outlets.
Landscape Architecture
This award recognises the use of practical, aesthetic, horticultural, and environmental sustainability components, taking into account climate, site and orientation, site drainage and irrigation, human and vehicular access, furnishings and lighting.
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