Image Credit : RIX RYAN, INSTAGRAM- BUBSANDREVIEWS, BUMPSINTOMUMS & MOTION PICTURES
Project Overview
Northshore Hamilton – Queensland’s largest waterfront urban renewal project – kicks off 2020 with the official opening of Hercules Street Park after a $10 million makeover. This is a significant milestone in the ongoing development of the 304ha priority development area (PDA).
Project Commissioner
Economic Development Queensland
Project Creator
Team
Hercules Street Park commissioned by Economic Development Queensland @dsdtiqld
DESIGN TEAM
Masterplan & Lead Design - Turf Design Studio + Environmental Partnership
Playground Design - Turf Design Studio
Architects (pavilion) - Owen Architects
Turf Team: Mike Horne, Scott Jackson
CONSULTANTS
Lighting - Electrolight
Civil / Structural - Borne Horst Ward
Electrical - Webb Australia
Water feature and Irrigation - SDC Engineering
Builder - JMAC Constructions
CCEP - Play safety certification
Access - Architecture and Access
Project Brief
Since Northshore Hamilton was declared a PDA in 2008, the landscape of the industrial and port precinct has changed dramatically. Over the last ten years development in the $5 billion mix-use precinct has seen the delivery of high-quality housing at Portside Wharf and Hamilton Reach; two CityCat terminals and the Eat Street Markets that attract over 1 million visitors per annum. Disused industrial places and spaces have been replaced with The Deck, Factories Precinct, Incubation Zones, EV charging stations and Tennis Australia courts.
Upgrading Hercules Street Park is part of the Palaszczuk Government’s greater Northshore redevelopment initiative to transform the former industrial and port precinct into an iconic Brisbane waterfront destination.
Project Innovation/Need
Hercules St Park has created a ‘green heart’ for Northshore Hamilton, and will support the health and well-being of many generations to come. In addition to its everyday importance for the local community, it will be host to the full range of public outdoor events, it has become a destination for the broader community, and it makes a meaningful contribution to the overall experience of Brisbane city.
Hercules Street Park is emblematic of what a contemporary park should be. It is the major open space for Northshore Hamilton a new bustling mixed use, high rise community – once the fuel yard of the old Port Brisbane.
All this is anchored by a great piece of architecture – Paul Owen’s park pavilion is refined, restrained and serves the park – as a spatial pivot while providing shade, shelter and public amenities.
Hercules Street Park has a cutting-edge interactive playground and water play feature, designed with multiple open-ended and self-directed play opportunities for children of varying ages and abilities. The new playground promotes movement, imaginative and creative play, and social interaction with its multi-level industrial themed talk tubes, traditional swings and a basket swingers, a 2.7m high climbing beam, and a container play structure with 270 degree tube slide. The water play structures shower from the top and mist from the grate at ground level, providing day and night activation though the coloured lights that interact with the water at night.
Design Challenge
Designed to celebrate the Brisbane River and foster community, Turf’s public domain masterplan will guide the transformation of the Northshore precinct over the next 20 years.
With 4000 apartments due for completion by 2024, the 304-hectare precinct will be transformed from an old industrial wharf into a vibrant inner-city hub for living, working and recreation, complete with roads, parks, open spaces and a 2.5km river walk.
Through extensive and ongoing collaboration with the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council, Turf’s masterplan and public domain guidelines have helped shaped the pedestrian-focussed streetscapes and new public open spaces for the new precinct, which includes twenty percent of dedicated public open space.
Since with the masterplan, Turf has continued their involvement in the project, completing the Urban Road Network and Hercules Park, the first major public realm project to be developed from the masterplan, which was completed early 2020. Future projects also include the precinct’s River Park Plaza and River Walk area.
"There is a reason this one was one of our favourite must-visits. The playground's design is a multi-level, industrial theme, container playground is filled with various climbing structures leading to one gigantic slide. The park also offers an extremely fun water play area for the little ones to enjoy, this was a personal favourite from our 2-year-old...Overall this park is phenomenal and one to be added to the Brisbane kid bucket list"
https://bumpintomums.com.au/hercules-street-park-playground-hamilton/
Sustainability
This new destination park offers activities and space for every member of community, including a ‘pup’-graded off-leash area to cater for dogs big and small. The playground features a multi-level industrial themed container play structure with a four-metre-high tube-slide as well as a traditional swing to cater to children of all ages and abilities. There is also a smart water play area that features synchronised programs and lighting at night to create a family-friendly space. The water used in this smart water play area is captured and stored in tanks and reticulated into the gardens at the park.
Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) – the Queensland Government’s property development and community-shaping agency – used contributions from developers in the Northshore Hamilton PDA to deliver the $10 million upgrade of the park. This is a great example of the Palaszczuk Government reinvesting infrastructure contributions directly back into local infrastructure.
Construction of the park upgrade took just under 12 months to complete and supported 33 local jobs. There has been considerable effort made to enhance the green space at Hercules Street Park with 16,000 new plants and the relocation of a number of original trees within the park.
Tags
Landscape Design
This award celebrates creativity and innovation in the use of practical, aesthetic, horticultural, and environmentally sustainability components, taking into account climate, site and orientation, site drainage and irrigation, human and vehicular access, furnishings and lighting.
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