URBAN FORESHORE

SOUTHPORT BROADWATER PARKLANDS - STAGE 1

Staged redevelopment of major Gold Coast urban foreshore precinct into an integrated high-quality public domain.

Landscape Principles in Practice:

• Value Our Landscape: Existing landscape values are used as the fundamental starting point for design, with rigorous site analysis underpinning informed decision-making. From project inception an Environmentally Sustainable Design analysis has been implemented in order to ensure environmentally sustainable design principles remain one of the key driving factors behind the Parkland’s design and development.  Analysis of the potential for landscape components to contribute to sustainable outcomes includes assessment of a wide range of factors, including water, energy, waste, materials, construction activities, building design, vegetation, public art and implications of climate change.
• Protect – Enhance – Regenerate:  Primary design and management strategies include preservation, regeneration and rehabilitation of the parkland’s natural ecology.  Reclaimed land to the south of the site will be offset by the creation of a mangrove habitat area to the north to slow and partially cleanse stormwater outfalls into the Broadwater, providing habitat for increased biodiversity, and opportunities for interaction with the natural environment. Integrated WSUD measures will treat stormwater and upstream catchments, re-use water for non-potable purposes and re-establish the natural water cycle. The natural profile of the presently eroded dunes is to be re-established, along with endemic species to ensure future protection.
• Design with Respect: Design response to the existing natural environment demonstrates commitment to ecosystem preservation via a systematic framework of sustainable design drivers - including energy-efficiency, integrated water cycle management, alternative transport and enhancing social and intergenerational equity. 
• Design for the Future:  Renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic panels, will provide energy to the parkland, with a view to self-sufficiency upon completion of all stages of the project. Such infrastructure has the potential to become cash-flow positive when ‘feed-in’ tariffs are introduced, as in the future government agencies could be relying on energy generation to derive income to maintain their open-space assets. Services will cater for alternative transport modes, such as bicycles. Urban furniture constructed largely of recycled plastic will introduce low embedded energy materials into the realm of contemporary design and to the forefront of public perception.
• Embrace Responsive Design:  Peer review, carried out throughout the master plan and design development phases, has been an integral part of the design from project inception – with the objective of testing ideas, gaining constructive feedback and refining key design initiatives to ensure a world class design outcome that is supported by the industry and can inform future developments. Innovative strategies such as the incorporation of energy generation into the structural design of the park raise community awareness of the potential of renewable energy to contribute to more sustainable built environment outcomes.

 

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