BLArch Grad design report

ab

GOSFORD CITY CBD//ALEX GEORGOURAS//BLARCH GRAD STUDIO

rehab

BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH + UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH QUESTION

APPROACH

?

AREA OF INVESTIGATION

SITE ANALYSIS

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

ecological social stylistic/heritage programmatic

question revision

research

regional

zoom

1

method outcome research

local

zoom

2

mapping

methods outcome observations

site

zoom

3

opportunities constraints

DESIGN RESOLUTION DETAIL PLANS

METHODOLOGY MAP When considering the method or methodology one takes when approaching a design investigation, I believe it is different from that of science. Although some put it down to ‘Science is analytic; design is constructive.’1 I believe the ‘constructive’ comes from the iterative and evolutionary methods that designers employ. With this in mind I have attempted to visualise my methods in a framework that articulates the iterative processes inherent in landscape architecture. This ‘Methodology Map’ will help guide you through this design report.

1

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1. carparks 2. street 3. open space CONSTRUCTION

FRAMEWORK SYSTEMS

hydrology vegetation infill transport OVERVIEW PLAN

INFLUENCES EXPLORATIONS

sketches concept models scale models

SCHEMATIC PLAN

check against design principles

revise masterplan to reflect design research

MASTERPLAN

01

Background INTRODUC TION MASTERPLAN AREA OF INVESTIGATION ME THODOLOGY MAP

02

Research + Understanding RESEARCH QUESTION REGIONAL ANALYSIS LOCAL ANALYSIS SITE ANALYSIS

03

Approach DESIGN PRINCIPLES PRECEDENTS EXPLORATIONS STRATEGIES

04

Framework SYSTEMS OVER VIEW PLAN

05

Design Resolution DE TAIL AREA 1 DE TAIL AREA 2 DE TAIL AREA 3 REFLEC TIONS

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GOSFORD CITY PHOTO REEL from left to right top to bottom: 1. Gosford City Park 2. Train Station Park 3. Imperial Centre 4. Watt Street 5. Imperial Center 6. Abandoned ‘Froggys’ roller rink 7. Mann St Intercection 8. Inconsistent frontages on Mann St South 9.

Only a few heritage buildings exist on the peripheries 10.

Gosford City Park 11. A severe lack of street planting due to badly laid services 12. Kibble Park is very ‘cluttered’ 13.

Gosford City Carpark 14. Monolithic Parking structures create odd spaces. 15. These structures are composed of steel and concrete 16. In Gosford ‘Car is King’ 17. Brisbane River 18. The severe waterfront’s edge 19-20. Undulating landforms and the water feels removed from the City Center. 21. Kibble Park would have once been home to Mangroves

BACKGROUND

01

BACKGROUND

Gosford

Introduction The UNSW BLarch Graduating Studio is a 14 week, intensive design studio that encompasses the production of: Richmo hmon nd + your own design project and brief + methodology(ies) for design investigation + communication of design proposals for final presentation resulting in what is essentially a “design thesis” COURSE CONTEXT

SITE

Hornsby

This final studio is a follow on from the previous semesters work as highlighted in the course outline; ‘students use design to investigate issues generated by the explorations of landscape urbanism in the group projects undertaken during Semester 1 in LAND 2401 for the CBD and waterfront of Gosford, NSW. ‘

Penrith

Gosford is a city located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, approximately 76 km north of Sydney. Interestingly, Gosford has been designated as an important growth centre under the NSW Metropolitan Strategy1. However, there are many road blocks standing in the way of Gosford and the city it could become. It currently experiences urban ailments such as a declining population, a lack of identity and complex social and environmental issues2, making it an ideal site to investigate for graduation studio.

Lep epp ping ngtton

Sydney

Liverpool

Key: Urban Centre Passenger rail Urban Density 1 “Cities Taskforce”. NSW Government Planning & Infrastructure. Retrieved 11 May 2013.

2 Draft Gosford Community Strategic Plan 2031, Gosford City Council.

2012

Freight Rail

To Wollongong

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GOSFORD MASTERPLAN ‘LATERAL MOTION’: Above: Edwina Morris, Michael Polifrone, Thomas Coermoreche and myself present Lateral Motion to a panel of visiting jurors

BACKGROUND _5

01

2030

BACKGROUND

Masterplan CONTEXT

Gosford has experienced a turbulent time in relation to the future of its built environment. The Gosford City Center Masterplan was produced in 2008 and mostly well received by the community. The planning powers were then given over to a state run organisation under the name of the Central Coast Regional Development Corporation. The development of the ‘Waterfront Precinct’ (a key economic feature within the Masterplan) was then developed in more detail. This stage however was overwhelmingly rejected by the community and thus the Gosford City Masterplan has been put on hold ever since.

RESPONSE

In our previous semester we were asked to respond to the Gosford City Masterplan by method of critiquing and devising a Masterplan of our own. My group examined the morphology or Gosford’s Grid Network as a way of determining areas of catalytic densification. It became apparent that a finer grain of street pattern existed within four quadrants of the city. Instead of reinforcing the existing predominant city movement of North-South our masterplan ‘LATERAL MOTION’, devised strategies of developing growth corridors East-West. This urban shift was supported by TOD strategies such as a light rail circuit (pink) and cycle network (orange).

1880

1920

2013

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RUMBALARA RESERVE

GOSFORD CITY CBD

PRESIDENTS HILL

BACKGROUND _7

01

BACKGROUND

Area of Investigation The nature of the Graduation Studio allows us to select a site that we have identified within our Masterplans and undertake further design research.

PROBLEM

OPPORTUNITY

What I found most compelling about the research our Masterplan uncovered was the dominance of the existing north south linearity. It was almost a case of ‘all roads lead out of Gosford’. Furthermore, both President’s Hill and Rumbalara Reserve are severe edges on either side of the CBD, almost ‘strangling’ the existing built form.

Through my research, I wanted to investigate the value of reconnecting these landforms for the site, local and regional scales. Could ecological urbanism provide the identity, social and economic proponents of a healthy city core?

Rumbalara Reserve President’s

Site Surrounding Landforms

0km

500m

1km

2km

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If your access to health care involves your leaving work and driving somewhere and parking and waiting for a long time, that’s not going to promote healthiness.

Larry Page, Co-founder Google RESEARCH+ UNDERSTANDING _9

RESEARCH+UNDERSTANDING

Research Question Before this studio I had very little understanding of the City of Gosford. However, I was amazed at how many people held a prejudice towards this regional city. Nearly all the people I spoke to about the location of the studio rolled their eyes and muttered, ‘You’ll be fine, anything is better than it is now.’ Mel Law, A Regional Development Officer, shed some light onto this prejudice by stating: “I think maybe Gosford has been built up too much on the provision of services (such as) the Methadone Clinic, the Department of Housing, Mission Australia, Salvation Army, Centrelink. All of these are in the heart of Gosford, so there’s a really strong culture of charity and services for the most disadvantaged in our community. All of the infrastructure in the city is built on these services.”- Mel Law, Regional Development Australia Central Coast I found Mel Law’s opinion on the state of Gosford interesting. This quote resonated with me throughout my research as I wanted to test, challenge and confirm her opinions.

Within this design investigation I wanted to rethink public amenity and social infrastructure. Could landscape architecture provide an infrastructure for Gosford that would combine the charitable, economic and ecological infrastructure that currently exists independently? I framed my questions as follows; rehab

investigates the notion that (If Landscape Architecture was enlisted) What is the social amenity and public infrastructure of Gosford in the 21st Century?

INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH + UNDERSTANDING

MASTERPLAN

RESEARCH QUESTION

APPROACH

?

AREA OF INVESTIGATION

SITE ANALYSIS

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

ecological social stylistic/heritage programmatic

research

regional

zoom

1

method outcome research

local

zoom

2

mapping

methods outcome observations

site

zoom

3

opportunities constraints

DESIGN RESOLUTION DETAIL PLANS

1. carparks 2. street 3. open space CONSTRUCTION

INFLUENCES EXPLORATIONS

sketches concept models scale models

SCHEMATIC PLAN

check against design principles

QUESTION

BACKGROUND

question revision

PREJUDICE

revise masterplan to reflect design research

02

FRAMEWORK SYSTEMS

hydrology vegetation infill transport OVERVIEW PLAN

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02

RESEARCH+UNDERSTANDING

Regional Analysis

RESEARCH

There were two design questions I wanted to answer by looking at my site at a Regional Level.

1. To what degree was Mel Law correct in saying that ‘Gosford has been built up too much on the provision of (charitable) services’? and 2. Are the habitats of Presidents Hill and Rumbalara Reserve part of a larger ecosystem?

METHOD

By collating maps on local parks, national reserves and state bush land I managed to generate a regional map that was the basis for my regional analysis. I then traced and overlaid urban areas that typically followed major transport links (i.e. the train line, highways, arterial road).

I then used the Brisbane River Plan of Management to understand the significant flora and fauna communities within the region. Additionally, I plotted the size and location of major social amenities (both public and private) in the region.

OUTCOME

Two interesting observations were made of the social amenities of the region: 1. There was a large concentration of charitable infrastructure within Gosford (Mel Law was correct) and 2. The Infrastructure seems to run north-south a few kilometres inland.

Additionally, the two landforms separated by Gosford are indeed part of a larger super-ecosystems. President’s Hill is the distance of a Highway crossing away from connecting to a waterbody and ecosystem that houses 80% of Sydney’s Basin’s Biota 1. Frequent spottings of the Phascolarctos cinereus (Koala) and the endangered Litoria aurea (Green and Golden Bellfrog) can be found.

Rumbalara also houses roughly half the Biota yet is still home to the vulnerable Ninox strenua (Powerful Owl).

Large wombats and eastern grey kangaroo communities are also present.

1.3 Ecological fragmentation separates wildlife communities and creates more edge disturbance (Author, 2013)

1. 2011, Department of Environment NSW, http:// www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/parks/ pomfinalbrisbane.pdf

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Methadone Clinic Regional Hospital

Mission Australia Centrelink

Workcover Australia Youth Services

Transport Infrastructure Social Service Amenity

RESEARCH+ UNDERSTANDING _13

0km

500m

1km

2km

02

RESEARCH+UNDERSTANDING

Local Analysis

RESEARCH

By shifting to a local/city scale lens I wanted to examine further: 1. How the forementioned social service amenity sits within the city?

2. What other supporting infrastructure exists due to the social service amenity? and 3. What opportunities are present that can provide a shift to a more mixed-use public infrastructure?

METHODS

Firstly I began mapping the location and type of social service amenity. Secondly I searched for the website of each corresponding social service amenity and found how they ‘suggested’ getting to the location (i.e. train, parking, bus, e.t.c.). Through my research I came across the Gosford City Center Parking Study, that outlined many of the future ambitions for car based infrastructure.

OUTCOMES

A few interesting patterns emerged through mapping the social service amenity within Gosford. Firstly, the majority of the amenity ran North-South along Watt Street. Secondly, the majority of these charitable amenities did not adjoin quality public space.

Interestingly the majority of information pages for ‘getting to’ the social service amenity lists car-based infrastructure (parking facilities) as the first method.

Some even omitting the train or bus route as supportive infrastructure. None mention cycling as an option, unsuprisingly. Although the majority of services ran North-South the supportive infrastructure intersected this axis, running predominately East-West. This raised the question of whether the carparks could better serve the people community and the surrounding ecology.

Lastly, it was interesting that the landforms of Rumbalara and President’s Hill are both aligned to Gosford’s Grid, with their trig stations being nearly symmetrically reflected either side of the city.

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02

RESEARCH+UNDERSTANDING

Site Analysis To gain a better understanding of my site I attempted to traverse from the top of President’s Hill on the West to Rumbalara on the East. Although nearly breaking my leg in the process, I did indeed traverse these peaks. There were a few observations that I came across when doing this: OBSERVATIONS

OPPORTUNITIES

1. The boundaries between these reserves are so severe.

The difference is palpable with all senses. When going from nature to urban, you are immediately thrown into glare, car noise and hard surfaces.

2. There was a large amount of ‘Tradies’ parked at the top of President’s Hill. They were eating their lunch and enjoying the natural setting.

3. Kibble Park, apart from having 3 Eucalypts that have been recently planted, has no native vegetation.

4. Mann Street is dominated by the car. I saw a ute run the pedestrian red light and was inches away from hitting a school kid. Apart from these traffic lights there are no other traffic calming devices.

Carparks Flooding

CONSTRAINTS

If I was to reconnect these two ecosystems I would need to examine what was dividing them. This process started with mapping the more obvious elements such as; major roads, rail and built form. However, my studies become more articulated and indepth through exploring the soundscape and programmatic uses seperating the two reserves. I was informed by the environmental scientists I consulted that the two important constraints of establishing a dynamic ecosystem in an urban Mapping Gosford’s Soundscape environment is a lack of water (nutrients) and edge East-West disturbance (noise/sound). These two elements are mitigated by carparks as they have the ability to harvest SCALE 1:20 000 large volumes of rainwater and insulate from external VE = 1.5 noise very well.

Barriers

30m

50m

wildlife public transport car passive recreation

Mapping Gosford’s Soundscape East-West SCALE 1:20 000 VE = 1.5

Edge Disturbance

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Manhatten’s CBD: 39 km ² Central Park: 3.4km ²

Ratio = 9%

Sydney City CBD: 2.09 km ² Hyde Park: 0.16 km ²

Ratio = 12%

Gosford’s CBD: 0.25 km ² Purpose Built Carparks: 0.03 km ² *

Ratio = 12% * Laid out it would be 0.7km ² (close to 1/4 of Central Park)

RESEARCH+ UNDERSTANDING _17

02

RESEARCH+UNDERSTANDING

Site Analysis CARPARKS

SCALE

My site consisted of 58% carparks, 21% streetscape, 13% Open Space and 8% vacant office blocks. I wanted to understand the scale ration of the carparks on my site and what potential they could have for a potential ecocorridor.

The set of maps on the previous page highlight two things; 1. Examples of landscape infrastructure within urban environments (such as Hyde Park and Central Park) are of a similar scale ratio to their respective CBD’s as Gosford Carparks are.

2. Gosford’s Carparks are overwelminghly monlithic.

POTENTIAL

I recalled a conversation I had with Dr Mitchell Lyons, who is a research fellow in Remote Sensing and Spatial Ecology. He cited that carparks, of all the urban fabric, are positioned well to harvest nutrients/water, great soil depths and prevent edge disturbance than other urban retrofits. With this in mind I calculated the annual rainfall on just the carparks within my site. The figures amounted to a staggering 39,840 Litres a year (enough to fill 6 local sized swimming pools).

39, 840 Litres _18

Reconnect habitats Harness the remedial qualities of landscape

Acknowledge an architecture vernacular

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Enhance education in the region

ecological social stylistic/heritage programmatic

APPROACH

03

APPROACH

Design Principles When considering my design principles I wanted a handful of outcomes that were prescriptive enough to be measured yet broad enough to allow for room to move through the conceptual stages of design.

PRINCIPLES

Through the creation of an East-West corridor REHAB will; + reconnect habitats that will lead to a greater biodiversity within surrounding plant, bird and mammal communities and thus a more robust ecology + create spaces that incorporate the remedial qualities of landscape for the less advantaged within the community + start to acknowledge an architectural vernacular that will help foster identity + expand the existing TAFE to include a tertiary educational facility that is centred on environmental sciences

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INFLUENCE from left to right top to bottom: 1. The Continuous Monument: On the Rocky Coast, project Perspective (1969) Superstudio 2.

ULTIMA ESPERANZA Rueben Wu 3. ROLAND BARTHES Genadii Berﾑ想kin 4-6. The Continuous Monument Superstudio 7. Le Corbusier, butdoesitfloat.com 8. Brutalist Bikeracks, urbsite. blogspot.com.au 9. Tricorn Center, Portsmouth, oobsite.com 10. Contemporary city of 3 million, miliauskasarquitetura. wordpress.com 11. Cage, http://whatart33.blogspot.com.au/ 12. Ambush, Maxalot Green butdoesitfloat.com 13. Harold W Perceival, Akos Major butdoesitfloat.com 16. Installation, Myou Ho Lee 17. Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, Eno Henze 18. Artefakti, Francisco Infante-Arana 19. Full Moon, Yang Yongliang 20. Installation, Myou Ho Lee 21. Red Ambush, Maxalot Green butdoesitfloat.com 22. Heraclitus, Minoru Nomata 23. Le Corbusier, butdoesitfloat.com

APPROACH

03

APPROACH

Influence Throughout this studio I have been consistently allowing myself to be imprinted by work that I find inspiring. My project seemed to engage age old paradigms of city and nature, boundaries and edges, and alternation of axis. The tiles on the left are just a snapshot of drawings, collage, generative art and photography that helped in the imagination and realisation of my project.

CITY X NATURE

Political barriers have dictated a severe edge on the surrounding reserves of Gosford. I wanted to explore the idea of hierarchical counters and the possibility of inverting these. However, cross overs within these opposites emerge in areas unseen. The concrete parking structures, scattered in abundance, dominate the sandstone in this setting. The once parent rock has been cast aside to make way for the new, and in this a new nature is born.

BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION

Through examining how certain elements interface, such as city and nature, I began to explore the idea of gradients. Within many of the tiles on the left there is an exploration of gradients. These gradients manifest in either a subtle blending or a severe fusion. These ideas have been heavily grounded in my project were the urban city meets the Rehab corridor.

RESEARCH + UNDERSTANDING

MASTERPLAN

RESEARCH QUESTION

APPROACH

?

AREA OF INVESTIGATION

SITE ANALYSIS

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

ecological social stylistic/heritage programmatic

question revision

research

regional

zoom

1

method outcome research

local

zoom

2

mapping

methods outcome observations

site

zoom

3

opportunities constraints

DESIGN RESOLUTION DETAIL PLANS

1. carparks 2. street 3. open space CONSTRUCTION

INFLUENCES EXPLORATIONS

sketches concept models scale models

SCHEMATIC PLAN

check against design principles

GRADIENTS

Unknown to many, due to its severe topography, Gosford lay on a rigid city grid. James Corner’s Terra Fluxus provided many salient thoughts on the ‘democratic grid’.

Through various provocations and drawings I began to develop a design language that would aid in the form of the corridor connection. I began to draw out other grids that were either impregnated into or imprinted onto the urban landscape. The grid identified within the monolithic carparks, takes its form as steel reinforcing, sitting in a state of latency (for the moment).

revise masterplan to reflect design research

GRID

FRAMEWORK SYSTEMS

hydrology vegetation infill transport OVERVIEW PLAN

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APPROACH _23

03

APPROACH

Explorations (Sketches) Through the conceptual process sketching allowed me to quickly test, clarify or record ideas. This was undertaken in both illustrative and diagrammatic methods. I would often find myself in an evolutionary process of making constant iterations to reflect my new findings.

In terms of production, I found stylistically the best way to communicate my design was a combination of drawing and computer graphics. This can be seen later in this design report.

‘urban-agri-bush gradient’

typical

ideal

gosford

‘common threads’

layers

active edges (human use)

shelter and climate

initial key plan ecology/retail/civic

ecology/nursery/agriculture

A

ecology/agriculture/recreation

ecology/education/research

B

C

ecology/wetplay/infrastructure

‘deconstructing the grid’

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WORD

filter

threshold

ABSTRACTION

LOCATION

MODEL

layer

APPROACH _25

03

APPROACH

Explorations (Conceptual Models) Throughout this research project I wanted to keep it grounded in academic and conceptual provocations.

Additionally, when confronting a site of this size, one often gets overwhelmed. I felt quickly generating models gave me a freedom when sometimes feeling ‘stuck’.

IDEATION

The process on the left involved: choosing three words, generating models from those words and, from photographs, montaging over these. My subconscious, through this process, had geoplaced these ideations on my site. Although graphically rather brash, these images allowed me to understand better the human scale and potential programmatic desires for these spaces.

TWIN PEAKS

I wanted to simulate a convergence of President’s Hill and Rumbalara Reserve. The images on the top right depict a flux model that utilised the static-fluid state of wax to generate this process. By using two differing colours for either hills I was able to delineate the effect of one on the other.

PARENT ROCK

Through the set of models on the bottom right I explored the nature of concrete. I conceptualized the decomposition of the material to reveal a ‘latent’ grid.

The steel reinforcing, when revealed through breaking and scraping, would rupture and bend. This set of models proved to be highly influential on the form of my design application.

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SCALE MODELS FOR REHAB Top: Box-board sketch model Middle: Layering city form Below: Perspex presentation model

APPROACH _27

03

APPROACH

Explorations (Scale Models) Considering my sites severe topography, making a scale contour model was important to my understanding.

Once I had this as a base I would often use it as a base for testing ideas. I began to generate the urban form, streets and eventually carparks.

SKETCH MODEL

PRESENTATION MODEL

When approaching my sketch model I wanted to construct the carparks out of something different to the existing built form. They were going to be retro-fitted so they would need to be out of something similar to the materials that are on site. Through researching, I discovered that foam shares many properties with the concrete of which Gosford’s carparks are constructed. By chance, the art store assistant told me not to spray paint the foam as it will dissolve the foam. I thought to myself ‘interesting’, and proceeded to decay these structures via red spray paint.

The foam bubbles and the levels of the buildings bleed into one another. It created a new element on the model, not foam, not paint, not boxboard, I had blurred the materials. This was a striking realisation of how to approach these structures.

A strong material palette of perspex and steel will communicate the citygrid, parking grid and reinforcing steel grid (latent). By showing vast extents of the landform I will demonstrate how the greater has impacted on the finer and vice versa.

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Light rail Existing heavy rail Possible crossing TAFE expansion Possible water treatment Inserting nature New city form

APPROACH _29

03

APPROACH

Schematic Plan Throughout my research I had set out some areas of opportunity within the corridor. I started developing schematic plans at an early stage to reflect and record these design moves. The image on the right illustrates my desire to create a cohesive landscape that acknowledges multiple systems of hydrology, ecology, social needs and city function.

ECOLOGY

Through the connection of endemic planting structures on either side I would begin to reconnect habitats and increase biodiversity. The ecology one either side of Gosford is slightly varied and this convergence would become an interesting ecotonal gradation.

SOCIAL NEEDS

With the encasing of an abundance of infrastructure within the 5 hectare site; city function was always going to be a design challenge when bridging east west. I decided to include the daylighting of the Imperial Centre and its housing of a new light rail network that was generated in the Masterplan stage from last semester.

The opportunity for various crossings arose when the height of Gosford Commuter Carpark and Gosford City Carpark were discovered to be similar.

INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH + UNDERSTANDING

MASTERPLAN

RESEARCH QUESTION

APPROACH

?

AREA OF INVESTIGATION

SITE ANALYSIS

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

ecological social stylistic/heritage programmatic

research

regional

zoom

1

method outcome research

local

zoom

2

mapping

methods outcome observations

site

zoom

3

opportunities constraints

DESIGN RESOLUTION DETAIL PLANS

1. carparks 2. street 3. open space CONSTRUCTION

INFLUENCES EXPLORATIONS

sketches concept models scale models

SCHEMATIC PLAN

check against design principles

CITY FUNCTION

Gosford loses a large proportion of its 18-25 population (nearly 1500 a year). A large reason behind this is young adults looking for tertiary education, either in Sydney or Newcastle. By extending the current TAFE facility we will relieve the pressures on the existing small campus and provide a more diverse program that will counter the depleting population.

BACKGROUND

question revision

The opportunity to catch water from the large impervious surfaces was fundamental to my design research. I wanted to also use this opportunity to acknowledge the heritage of the creek that was covered up in Kibble Park.

revise masterplan to reflect design research

HYDROLOGY

FRAMEWORK SYSTEMS

hydrology vegetation infill transport OVERVIEW PLAN

_30

endemic planting structures main water flow

water treatment

peak overflow outlet

Herbs and Ferns Pseuderanthemum variabile, Pratia purpurascens, Microlaena stipoides, Oplismenus imbecillis, Desmodium varians, Viola hederacea

Livistona australis Platanus acerifolia Waterhousia floribunda Lophostemon confertus

wetland planting Baumea articulata Baumea juncea Carex appressa Typha orientalis Phragmites australis

conne netwo ct to region rk al bik

e

conne netwo ct to region rk al bik

Dense shrub layer Rhodamnia rubescens Acacia filicifolia Synoum glandulsum, Glochidion ferdinandi, Podolobium ilicifolium, Rapanea variabilis

y

Pr Wa eside lkin nt’s g T Hi rac ll ks

To Syd ne

y

Connection to existing Rumbalara trails Connection to existing Rumbalara trails

To Syd ne

ey

concnt e conco enncnteto toctreto re nentw netw g ln rk orerkgiognio orkeotw alnbaio ikbeaiklebike

Pr Wa eside lkin nt’s g T Hi rac ll ks

conne netwo ct to region rk al bik

e

e

urban catchment

Forest Canopy Eucalyptus pilularis Eucaluptus robusta Allocasuarina torulosa Syncarpia glomulifera

exotic + native street planting

To Gosford West To Gosford West

Connection to existing Rumbalara trails Connection to existing Rumbalara Connectiontrails to existing Rumbalara trails Connection to existing Rumbalara trails

ford West ford West sford West To Gosford West

Pedestrian

Shared way

Cycle way

Light rail

Service vehicles only

Roundabout

New buildings Retro-fit

FRAMEWORK _31

04

FRAMEWORK

Systems

VEGETATION

Through the use of endemic planting structures, East-West, I will create a wayfinding solution for both native fauna and the people of Gosford. North-South connections however will use a planting palette of native and exotic planting to delineate the urban axis.

BUILT FORM

Gosford will experience a shift from car centred to more diverse mode of transport: 1. Mann street will be restricted to service vehicles for the existing retail.

2. Overall paving will delineate these new founded pedestrian areas. These spaces will connect to new and existing trails on President’s Hill and Rumbalara Reserve.

2. Kibble Park will stay open to car access, providing the opportunity for drop-offs and pick-ups.

3. Cycleways will join the corridor through level 2 of the Commuter Carpark on the west side. Cyclists will be able to then access Mann Street via the rail crossing.

4. Light rail will connect Gosford to its much neglected Western side. There will be a light rail stop within Kibble Park, that will connect to ‘offsite’ parking facilities. These sites have been outlined within the 2011 Gosford City Centre Strategic Parking Study produced by Brown Consulting.

In terms of new urban form, there will be a combination of new buildings or retro-fitting. New Urban Buildings (Pink) will include a Gosford Arts Centre and child care facilities. The Retrofit of the 3 carparks and the Imperial Centre will open the city centre up to this corridor and start to develop an architectural vernacular and thus identity.

INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH + UNDERSTANDING

MASTERPLAN

RESEARCH QUESTION

APPROACH

?

AREA OF INVESTIGATION

SITE ANALYSIS

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

ecological social stylistic/heritage programmatic

research

regional

zoom

1

method outcome research

local

zoom

2

mapping

methods outcome observations

site

zoom

3

opportunities constraints

DESIGN RESOLUTION DETAIL PLANS

1. carparks 2. street 3. open space CONSTRUCTION

INFLUENCES EXPLORATIONS

sketches concept models scale models

SCHEMATIC PLAN

check against design principles

CIRCULATION

BACKGROUND

question revision

Often generating an overview plan can be quite daunting as there is so much to include. By breaking my design responses into systems I was able to focus more holistically on that landscape element.

I wanted to use the grid as a way of ‘perculating’ and ‘filtering’ water throughout the site. Within the carparks, water is harvested and guided into the second level rain garden. From here it is guided through the corridor into a series of modular rain gardens eventually making its way into a wetland. This wetland will gather in the lowest point of the valley, Kibble Park; a location that was home to a creek and then a carpark. The wetland will take on the footprint of the old carpark and yet still acknowledge the heritage creek.

revise masterplan to reflect design research

HYDROLOGY

FRAMEWORK SYSTEMS

hydrology vegetation infill transport OVERVIEW PLAN

_32

1 Highway Crossing

Daylighted Imperial Centre

5 Gabion Wall

9

2 Carpark

6 New City Junction

10 Light rail stop

14

3 Carpark Link

7 Village Green

11 Child care facility

15

Commuter

4 Gosford Town Carpark

Upramp

12

8 Gosford Community Centre

Wetland and adjoing playground

13

Market and food stall zone Entry (Pick-Up) area to TAFE extension campus

Detail area

Outside classrooms

Road

Outdoor seating

Light rail

Wetland ponds

Outdoor class rooms

16 Connection to existing

Shared zone

Rumbalara trails

01

Endemic planting structures Native + exotic street trees

Concrete paving

1

02

2

3

50% Of Sydney a Basin’s Biot

4

03

9

5 6

7

80%

13

8

Of Sydney ta Basin’s Bio

15 10

12

14 16 2 0 k m

11 0 k m

5 k m

1 0 k m ney Basin’s

80% Of Syd

Biota

THE FUNNEL CARPARK CANYON

CITY/NATURE JUNCTION

FRAMEWORK _33

FRAMEWORK

Overview Plan The form of rehab is largely constituted by the ecological neccesities that a hyper-nature corridor requires.

Environmental scientists from UNSW’s School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences were consulted for this information. Some of these requirements include:

grounds itself within Gosford in dynamic ways, such as:

+ Retrofitting three existing parking structures to reveal and enhance their location, stylistic and functional attributes + Re-introducing the old creek to the city’s CBD by creating a wetland + Transforming Mann Street into a pedestrian friendly junction that encourages social interaction + Providing students and teachers with class spaces that incorporate the environment

INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH + UNDERSTANDING

MASTERPLAN

RESEARCH QUESTION

APPROACH

?

AREA OF INVESTIGATION

SITE ANALYSIS

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

ecological social stylistic/heritage programmatic

research

question revision

However, although adhering to these principles, rehab

BACKGROUND

regional

zoom

1

method outcome research

local

zoom

2

mapping

methods outcome observations

site

zoom

3

opportunities constraints

DESIGN RESOLUTION DETAIL PLANS

1. carparks 2. street 3. open space CONSTRUCTION

INFLUENCES EXPLORATIONS

sketches concept models scale models

SCHEMATIC PLAN

check against design principles

+ A mininum width of 20 metres to allow for the buffering of urban noise pollution + Fire preventative structures at the urban entry points + Large quantities of water and scattered sunlight + A diversity of planting structures, species and microclimates

revise masterplan to reflect design research

04

FRAMEWORK SYSTEMS

hydrology vegetation infill transport OVERVIEW PLAN

rehab

seeks to provoke a new rhetoric around social amenity for the City of Gosford, one that encourages identity, promotes bio-diversity and enhances economics within the region. It is these innovative solutions that cities need to embrace to remain relevant and competitive in this global age.

IMPERIAL LANEWAY

KIBBLE’S CATCHMENT

KIBBLE’S CAMPUS

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a

a observation areas

elevated walkway

To

l Hil t’s n e sid Pre

b

c

DESIGN RESOLUTION _35

05

DESIGN RESOLUTION

Detail Area 1 The West Side of Gosford’s City Centre is a steep landscape with a complexity of infrastructure carving its way northsouth. By using this topography to our advantage we can bridge Showground Road and start the infiltration of Presidents Hill into Gosford City. The at grade path then fluctuates between a suspended walkway that gradually descends the levels of the commuter car park. The corridor then reorientates itself to the next carparks grid while bridging the train line. The corridor will be a manmade canyon, collecting the rainwater to feed this hyperecosystem. The remaining carspaces will accommodate visitors and locals, wishing to engage with this ecology, thus inverting the notion of a carpark.

views of Brisbane Waters habitat strip

carpark cutaway either side to reveal ‘latent’ steel grid

b constructed ramps and stairs native coastal forest emerges from bottom level

c BD C rd fo s Go o T

_36

a

b

DESIGN RESOLUTION _37

05

DESIGN RESOLUTION

Detail Area 2 The existing state of Mann Street does not support a vibrant pedestrian life. This is due to the priority given to the car, the lack of East-West connection and the amount of urban clutter. By pedestrianising the section of Mann Street from Donnison to Erina Street East, this will center promote informal gatherings, boost a city culture and mitigate heat island effect. The grid will manifest itself in the geometric paving that will allow for removal and modulating rain-gardens. These will make up the habitat corridor that continues through William Street into Kibble Square.

rain gardens emerge from removed grid pavers

rest areas events such as: nye, soccer matches and community announcements

b

village green allows for a diverse program

a

active edges allow for a fluid pedestrian Mann St

_38

b

a

DESIGN RESOLUTION _39

05

DESIGN RESOLUTION

Detail Area 3 Kibble Park is the lowest point between these two hills and was once the site of a creek. The harvested rainwater, that has been accumulated through the corridor, provides the opportunity to restore this erased ecosystem into a dynamic wetland. The peripheral spaces surrounding the wetland will allow for passive recreation, temporal retail and local sports events. This wetland will glue together the existing retail of the Imperial Centre, the child care facilities to the south and the TAFE expansion to the East.

The people and water collected in the space will have a symbiosis of treatment and remediation.

child care facilities

a

wetland wharf water remediation facility will be located on the footprint of the old car lot in Kibble Park

local sized sports field supports campus extension and community

b

a space for weekend markets and temporary food stalls continue paving material through shared zone

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d

e

f

g

THE FUNNEL CARPARK CANYON CITY/NATURE JUNCTION

IMPERIAL LANEWAY KIBBLE ‘S CATCHMENT

KIBBLE’S CAMPUS

d DESIGN RESOLUTION _41

05

e

f

g _42

potential offsite parking

carpark retrofit pedestrianised Mann Street constructed wetland TAFE expansion connection to Rumbalara Reserve trails

light rail ‘Loop’

DESIGN RESOLUTION _43

DESIGN RESOLUTION

Construction Rehab is not so much a desire to construct, rather deconstruct. Many contemporary landscapes use the notion of ‘design by subtraction’. Examples of these include; Hill Thalis competition winning Barangaroo project, Mcgregor Coxall’s Ballast Point Park and EMF’s Cap de Creus Natural Park. These projects acknowledge certain artifacts and layers of the landscape that Christophe Girót namely refers to as ‘trace elements’.1 This sensitivity can start to catalyse an identity within the urban landscape, something that is amiss within Gosford City Centre.

NATURAL DISASTER

Upon writing this report, brave firemen and women are combating the worst fires in more than a decade2. Gosford is bushfire prone and the introduction of a vegetated corridor will most likely increase this risk. However, the parking structures that lay as gateways to the corridor, on both the east and west act as default fire protection walls.

Concretes with aggregate rates like Gosford’s parking structures are chemically inert and therefore virtually noncombustible. This concrete also has an extremely low heat transfer rate, meaning fire prevention with Rehab will be achievable.

REVISED MASTERPLAN

I wanted to revisit my masterplan and include the knowledge that I have gained. This revision included: + TAFE expansion rather than University in the West + Inclusion of the Brown Consultancy Study for off-site parking + Physical, Ecological and Visual Connection of President’s Hill and Rumbalara Reserve + Retrofit of Carparks and part of the Imperial Centre to house new ecologies, infrastructure and economic activity + Gosford City Centre to gradually enhance, uncover and implement, what I would describe as, a ‘landscape brutalist’ architectural vanacular.

1. Girot. C, 1999, The Four Trace Concepts: Selected Essay, ETH Zurich, pg.3 2. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/bushfires-in-nsw-worst-inmore-than-a-decade-20131017-2voyu.html

BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH + UNDERSTANDING

MASTERPLAN

RESEARCH QUESTION

APPROACH

?

AREA OF INVESTIGATION

SITE ANALYSIS

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

ecological social stylistic/heritage programmatic

research

question revision

Throughout this design project, I made a conscious decision to keep my distance from ‘precincts’ or ‘districts’ i.e. Docklands, Moore Park Entertainment Quarter. My research however does set up sequential spaces that could lend themselves to differing programs. Furthermore, my research should be more of a prescription of how to connect these possible spaces into the surrounding context and to one another.

regional

zoom

1

method outcome research

local

zoom

2

mapping

methods outcome observations

site

zoom

3

opportunities constraints

DESIGN RESOLUTION DETAIL PLANS

1. carparks 2. street 3. open space CONSTRUCTION

INFLUENCES EXPLORATIONS

sketches concept models scale models

SCHEMATIC PLAN

check against design principles

STAGING

revise masterplan to reflect design research

05

FRAMEWORK SYSTEMS

hydrology vegetation infill transport OVERVIEW PLAN

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05

DESIGN RESOLUTION

Conclusion rehab is a innovative approach to a city that is in

decline. It examines the regional, local and site to synthesise ‘speculative design innovations rather than... conventional solutions’ 1.

My research has identified that Gosford, does indeed have a ‘strong culture of charity’2. However, these charitable qualities do not extend to the surrounding ecologies. Rehab seeks to provoke a new rhetoric around social amenity for the City of Gosford, one that encourages identity, promotes bio-diversity and enhances economics within the region. It is these innovative solutions that cities need to embrace to remain relevant and competitive in this global age.

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1. Mohsen. M (2010), Ecological Urbanism: Introduction, Harvard Graduate School of Design, pg. 14 2 Mel Law, Regional Development Australia Central Coast