A jury has unanimously selected a design team comprising JMD Design, Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects and Bennett and Trimble Architects as the winner of a $300,000 international ideas competition for two Sydney suburban town centres: Kensington and Kingsford.
The competition, initiated by Randwick City Council and dubbed K2K, sought ideas for the urban design, strategic direction, sustainable growth and creative transformation of the town centres as they head into a period of significant urban redevelopment. The two precincts, located to the south-east of Sydney’s CBD, will be served by the new light-rail network, which will run along the area’s major road, Anzac Parade, and is due to be operational in 2019.
The winning team’s design proposes to reimagine Anzac parade as a “boulevard punctuated by new civic spaces of intensity.” A key driver of the design is to widen the footpaths along Anzac Parade by 10 metres to create a pedestrian spine, with hundreds of large and small trees along the road. The proposal also includes six new urban centres and a civic space along Anzac Parade, as well as new parklands within walking distance of the main thoroughfare.
The object was to “unlock some of the existing open spaces and make new public spaces available to all to make the area much more liveable” said Philip Thalis, a founding principal of Hill Thalis.
The scheme would also reinstate the Millstream, an existing water system running north–south parallel to Doncaster Avenue, as a green spine.
K2K proposal – Todman Avenue Square by James Mather Delaney Design Landscape Architects, Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects, Bennett and Trimble Architecture and Urban Projects.
“We chose to look beyond the narrow corridor of Anzac Parade, proposing a new public corridor along the alignment of the former Millstream that crosses the civic corridor of Anzac Parade” said Anton James, a director of JMD Design.
The scheme was selected by an independent jury “for its diverse range of public benefits, including identification of more public spaces as well as considerations regarding the integration of light rail, roads and pedestrian access along Anzac Parade.”
On the jury were: Malcolm Snow (National Capital Authority, jury chair), Ben Hewett (NSW Government Architect’s Office), Jennifer Neales (Fred St), Kerry Clare (Clare Design) and Tim Greer (Tonkin Zulaikha Greer).
Mayor of Randwick, Noel D’Souza said, “The benefit of the competition is that it allowed us to seek ideas from Australia’s best architects and urban planners to help inform our planning controls for Kensington and Kingsford for the years to come.
“Council staff will be reviewing the entries carefully and we’ll use the best and most practical concepts to help inform future planning controls, however Council is under no obligation to use all or any of the ideas.”
Randwick City Council launched the international ideas competition in July 2016. From an entry pool of 19 submissions, four were shortlisted in August following the conclusion of stage one (expressions of interest) of the competition. The winning team was awarded $120,000, and $140,000 was shared equally among the four shortlisted teams.
The unsuccessful teams were:
- Aspect Studios team comprising Aspect Studios Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, SJB Architects and Urban Design, Terroir Architecture and Urban Planning, SGS Economics and Planning
- Coda Architecture and Urban Design team comprising Coda Architecture and Urban Design, Realm Studios Landscape Architecture, and GTA Transport consultants
- JBA team comprising JBA Urban Design and Planning, Stewart Hollenstein Architecture and Urban Design, Arcadia Landscape and Natural Systems, The Transport Planning People and Jess Scully
