Sydney’s Metro Northwest is an urban transit projectÌýat the metropolitan scale, integrating eight new stations andÌýtheir surrounding public spaces through architecture, landscapeÌýand art. The urban strategy is a pattern book of elements unifyingÌýthe stations along the 36-kilometre corridor, with subtle shiftsÌýof scale, form, colour and landscape. Each station precinct isÌýuniquely adjusted in response to the local alignment, topographyÌýand history, giving meaningful identity to each centre. The artÌýconcept further refines this identity by referencing the pastÌýto shape the future paradigm.Ìý
Orchards that historically populated the city’s north-westÌýare reinterpreted through a fruity colour palette that defines theÌýtrain journey and signals each station, starting with cherry-redÌýat Cherrybrook. The orchard grid also gives a poetic logic to theÌýstation plazas through urban tree groves, coloured skylit lanterns,Ìýwhimsical furniture and mist installations between the trees.ÌýColour and light infuse these elements as well as the stationÌýinteriors, lifts, stairs and escalators, creating a fluid interplayÌýbetween inside and outside.Ìý
At the heart of this city-shaping project is a generousÌýensemble of quality public spaces that simply delight.ÌýStreets, plazas, shady groves and calm, light-filled interiorsÌýare counterbalanced by the play of light bathing each stationÌýin a kaleidoscope of colour that enlivens even the subterraneanÌýconcourses. The result is a richly layered public realm ofÌýmemorable and uplifting spaces, all seamlessly connected.ÌýÌý
This urban transit project is a game changer. By reaffirmingÌýthe forgotten joy of train travel, it demonstrates that publicÌýinfrastructure can be more than utilitarian. More importantly,Ìýby consciously crafting enduring spaces for people to enjoyÌýinÌýeach and everyÌýcommunity along the corridor, it createsÌýan array of settings for public life for years to come.Ìý
Campbell Section 5 Master Plan occupies a pivotal six-hectare site at the junction of two major Griffin axes – Constitution Avenue and Anzac Parade. This ambitious urban project, encompassing five new streets and blocks, landscaped squares and a major new three-hectare green space, Hassett Park, has transformed this previously degraded corner of Campbell into a vibrant urban neighbourhood. Characterized by its generosity, with broad streets framing vistas to Anzac Parade’s memorials and the distant landscape, the project has the public domain at its heart. Hassett Park is the centrepiece, calmly uniting the new precinct and the existing fabric of Campbell. Built-form controls carefully mediate between the smaller suburban scale and the new urban scale, with taller buildings placed on the avenues and parkland.
Campbell Section 5 Master Plan is an exemplar from conception through to implementation. The as-built project is a testament to the strength of the masterplan and the guidelines embedded within it. The fundamentals are robust, and the quality and detail of the public domain will no doubt stand the test of time. This project has set a new benchmark for Canberra, uplifting the amenity of the area and integrating the old and new communities in the process.
Denton Corker Marshall’s Bridge of RemembranceÌýhas seamlessly reconnected two of Hobart’s most significantÌýpublic spaces:ÌýtheÌýCenotaph and the Soldiers Memorial AvenueÌýon the Queens Domain. An elegant, twisting plane, theÌý200-metre-long bridge spans a broad highway at a key thresholdÌýto the city, providing a distinctive entry portal. While a dramaticÌýgesture from various vantage points, the design is also nuanced,Ìýrespecting the cultural heritage and environmental valuesÌýof the site. This approach enables people to engage with thisÌýhighly considered and restrained work in multiple ways.Ìý
The experience of pedestrians crossing the bridgeÌýis carefully curated; a pair of folding aluminium planes flanksÌýthe axis, deliberatelyÌýopening upÌýand obscuring views alongÌýthe journey. The high west wings dramatically frame the vistaÌýto the Cenotaph then fold back mid-span, revealing broaderÌýviews of the Domain while screening the traffic below. The dramaÌýof these enfolding silver planes is heightened at night, whenÌýthe bridge is illuminated. Denton Corker Marshall is to beÌýcommended on this sophisticated and uplifting resolutionÌýof a complex urban condition.Ìý
