The vision for Victoria Square / Tarndanyangga is: ‘To be an accessible and vibrant public space that is internationally recognised as a symbol of South Australia’s unique culture and lifestyle.’

The Victoria Square / Tarndanyangga Regeneration Masterplan seeks to provide a comprehensive design vision for this critically important space within the City of Adelaide. In achieving this aim, the masterplan therefore sets Victoria Square / Tarndanyangga within its precinct and greater city context and identifies placemaking initiatives to improve access, connectivity, environmental, economic and social benefits beyond the boundaries of the Square.

The focus is a large public space around which the buildings step down from the Pacific Highway.

At the lowest (west) end these open out into a new public park containing large remanent gum trees.

The use of each building is encoded by different environmental cladding types. The centre’s different events thus lead to the visual articulation of the buildings.

Stage one of the six-stage development in Croobyar Road was approved by Shoalhaven City Council on September 6, 2009. The “ambitious and innovative” seniors’ living community will lay the foundation for what is expected to be “one of country NSW’s finest over 55s lifestyle communities”. The Claydon Park community will be situated on just under 100 acres of which it is planned to have 70 per cent open space and landscape areas.

The Master Plan includes spacious villas, terraces and cottages from one-and-a-half bedrooms through to luxury four bedroom homes. The clients require that each residence be capable of providing the ultimate in architectural, eco friendly, smart design to accommodate today’s and tomorrow’s rapidly changing trends, needs and expectations.

The union of the three practices provides an in-built strategy to achieve a desirable level of diversity, with Tonkin Zulaikha Greer as managing architects.

Landscape was considered an important aspect of the design to better integrate the development into the established neighbouring streetscape and to draw on the Burley Griffin urban planning of nearby Castlecrag with narrow streets and verge treatments and roadways shared with pedestrians. A series of typical house designs provided increased urban densities whilst maintaining environmental and privacy standards for each household.

The conservation and refurbishment of the 1918 Penrhyn House, and the reconstruction of the adjoining 1970s car park into a mixed-use facility created a civic focus for The Rocks. New facades, deeply modelled and carefully-articulated, envelop the 1970s building, and relate to adjoining large-scale Colonial and Victorian warehouses. Both levels have multiple entrances from the surrounding streets and lanes. A new glass-roofed portico provides a major covered public gallery facing onto the Square.

Detailed urban design analysis of the surrounding environment was required o ensure the new work complimented Sydney’s ‘Historic Village’. These investigations influenced the design of new colonnades and the square itself, as well as the upgrading of the surrounding streets.

Materials were selected to match the stone, brick and render of the neighbouring Victorian residential and warehouse buildings, and have been left unfinished where possible. Face brick matches the colour of the convict-made sandstock bricks, and sandstone is used as paving and for walls to the public spaces. The interior is defined with expressive hardwood detailing and purpose-designed light fittings.

The work includes the conception and design of the new waterfront urban spaces to the Terminal’s north and south and the major reconstruction of the building itself. The new square has been a major part of the life of the city since its creation, notably being the scene of the party which awaited the announcement of the Olympic bid.

In 1998, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer were engaged by The Sydney Ports Corporation to undertake feasibility studies and schematic design for the $25m refurbishment of the building to update its shipping facilities and incorporate a major ‘destination retail’ facility.

Listed as a site of state heritage significance, the Paddington Reservoir was originally constructed in two stages, completed in 1866 and 1878. The water chambers were built below street level with a grassed park above, opened to the public in the 1930’s. The operational life of the reservoir ceased in 1899 and the site was used as a workshop and garage until 1990 when roof collapses forced its closure.

We believed the concept for the project was embodied in the existing artifact. An accessible sunken garden and pond, surrounded by a raised pre-cast concrete boardwalk, has been inserted within the conserved ruin of the western chamber of the former reservoir. The edges of the ruin are contained by concrete up-stands in such a way as to amplify the distinctive curved characteristics of the original brick vaults. The Victorian tree-fern garden hints at the era in which the Reservoir was originally built.

The eastern chamber has been conserved with new timber columns and a waterproof concrete structure over, stabilising the brickwork and forming the base for the new landscaped park above.

Two lightweight roofs float above the reservoir, signaling the main entry points to the park. The lightness of the roofs act as a counterpoint to the solid earthiness of the masonry vaults, while there is a whimsical reference to the older masonry mortar joints in the staggered pattern of the metal grid.

A restricted pallet of three materials – steel, aluminium and concrete were chosen as contemporary partners for the historic brick, cast iron and timber, united as they are in their raw industrial expression. This quality, crucial to sustaining the memory of the original purpose of the structure, is softened by the status given to the planting and also by the overt invitation, implicit in the walkways, to explore the whole park.

The Towers are a series of 19 pylons, each 30 metres tall, which unite many functions on a very small footprint to facilitate crown flows. Large-scale photovoltaic solar collection is couples with sophisticated lighting and structure to create functional public sculpture. At their base, the Towers house all the services required to events in the Plaza, including high and low voltage power, communications, water and drainage.

A five metre square facetted mirror, designed with Barry Webb and Associates, has sophisticated photo metrics, which reflect area lighting indirectly onto the Plaza, providing a unique, glare-free night time ambience. 1150 square metres of photovoltaic collectors are arranged 6 metres above the paving, to provide areas of shade in the Plaza at key locations. These dramatic floating louvred shades are self-coloured and have been designed to provide easy event and maintenance access. At the time of completion the photovoltaic provided one of the largest public solar collectors in the world, and continue to generate a net surplus of power.

The Towers have precast concrete bases, providing volumes to house services and seating. The shafts are angled to true north, away from the large masses of the stadia and towards the Olympic Boulevard, uniting the separate Towers into a cohesive group.

As the SOPA masterplan is implemented, a significant population will be living at Homebush Bay. The Park will be the focus of the ‘middle ring’ of Sydney, and a vital and special retreat in an increasingly dense environment. Growing usage and expectations place added importance on the development of Parkland Junction and The Newington Armory.

The unique buildings and landscape at the Newington Armory give the proposed Institute an enviable infrastructure for growth and development suitable for its diverse and ambitious charter.

New works are strategic and enabling, allowing access, adaptive reuse and restoration to sensitively respond to the memory of place.

The proposal develops a sympathetic ‘fit’ of zoned uses in the retained buildings and landforms, with minimal new structures. The focus is a new Visitors Centre enjoying rare long views up and down the Parramatta River.

This complex project involves the retention and adaptive reuse of heritage sites as well as new buildings. Approximately 16000sqm of space both new-build and refurbished will create a vibrant new retail, entertainment, dining precinct and a boutique hotel, “Off Broadway”, focused on a characterful urban mix of buildings.

The project offers an outstanding opportunity for urban renewal that reflects the eclectic, historic and dynamic character of the inner city.