The Darling Harbour transformation project is the city’s most significant urban renewal initiative in 20 years – a once in a generation opportunity.
People were firmly at the heart of our design process for transforming the iconic Darling Harbour precinct. We wanted to both ‘wow’ first-time visitors and delight those who use the space the most – the local community of workers and residents.
The remaking of Darling Harbour, one of Australia’s most visited public places and a critical location of central Sydney, has changed the heart of the city. It better connects the city and offers new places for people to gather, to relax and to play.
By reinvigorating parklands, integrating landscapes and open space and incorporating water features, public artworks, plazas and event spaces we have created opportunities for events and activities as varied as open-air concerts, circus events, market stalls and busking – and simple pleasures like splashing in shallow pools. Our response to the original brief delivers high quality, open and flexible spaces that allow for the greatest variety of both casual uses and organised events.
Amid the open spaces and landscape are detailed areas of interest and smaller-scale zones where people can go and relax – away from the crowds.
Improved pedestrian, cycle and public transport connections make it easier for people to access the precinct’s previously disconnected immediate neighbourhoods, the harbour and the Sydney city centre.
Darling Harbour highlights
_The Boulevard, a promenade that extends the pedestrian connections between Central Station and Cockle Bay _Chinese Garden Plaza, a forecourt to the existing Chinese Garden of Friendship that features shallow water pools for children’s play and acts as a market and event space for the precinct _Folded landscape, an integrated native Australian landscape that rises from the Boulevard, providing elevated platforms and access to the three ICC Sydney venues _Tumbalong Park, now 40% bigger and complete with a stage, event screen, improved lighting and greater expanses of grassed areas enabling a richer entertainment program
Public art makes a vital and engaging place
Visitors to Darling Harbour are engaged and inspired by an audio-visual installation, soundscape, pollen sculptures and imagery of native flora pressed into the concrete façade of the folded landscape. These large ‘big bang’ and smaller ‘fine grain’ public artworks were integrated from the beginning of the design process.
They include: _data.scape by Ryoji Ikeda _Sandstone Pollen by Maria Fernanda Cardoso _Entelekheia by Danie Mellor _Sound Habitat by Janet Laurence
HASSELL delivered the urban design and public realm for Darling Harbour, working in close partnership with Lendlease and the New South Wales Government.
Awards
2018 Australian Institute of Architects National Architecture Awards - The Walter Burley Griffin Award - Urban Design
2018 Australian Award for Urban Design - Commendation for built projects – city and regional scale
2018 Australian Institute of Architecture (New South Wales) Awards – The Lloyd Rees Award for Urban Design
2015 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (New South Wales) Awards – Award for Urban Design in Landscape Architecture
HASSELL Design Team
Angus Bruce Phillipa Byrne Jason Cuffe Caitrin Daly Georgia Darling Andrew Ewington Dana Gopffarth Christoph Kaufmann Ken Maher Matthew Mackay Louise Pearson Jo Picton Frank Smith Stephen Tan
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