Commercial and retail development flanked this axial link, and waterfront development around the bay focussed on a ferry terminal and ceremonial arrival to the site.
While appearing impressive and serving the purpose of supporting the hid, the plan was flawed. It ignored the toxicity of the water and sludge in the bay; it involved a massive restructuring of the landform; and its implied extent of commercial development was unsustainable. Furthermore, there was no budget for its implementation as a major public works project.
Clearly a rethink was necessary, and, while professional bodies such as the RAIA and AILA supported the bid, there was little support for the plans for Homebush Bay. Various propositions emerged for the site, including a dramatic scheme to create a lake in the disused brick pit, connected to the main stadium by a formal axis, proposed by architects Phillip Cox, Andrew Andersons and Ken Woolley. Although this scheme raised environmental issues, it did highlight the opportunity to establish a dramatic development of the site in a more compact and achievable way.
The NSW Government arranged for an International Design Studio over a five-day period in December 1994, to allow teams of architects, landscape architects and artists, supported by technical advisers, to prepare masterplanning concepts for the site in an interactive forum. Eight schemes emerged, although mysteriously none were ever published or released for public debate (refer Landscape Australia Vol 3, 1995).
Preparation of New Masterplan
In 1995, the Olympic Co-ordination Authority (OCA) was formed, and OCA selected five individuals to form a team for the preparation of the Masterplan, working with Laurence Nield, who had been appointed to advise OCA following his involvement in orchestrating the previous Design Studio. The team comprised Andrew Andersons (architect), Daryl Conybeare (architect/planner), Oi Choong (landscape architect), Ken Maher (architect/landscape architect) and Philip Thalis (architect/urbanist).
This team, with the support of specialist advisers, including landscape architect Jane Urwin and Bill Royal, worked at the Homebush Bay site to establish a framework for the development of the Homebush Bay site. At the time this study commenced, work previously undertaken (for the 1994 Structure Plan by an in-house OCA team led by Dianne Leeson and Nigel Dickson) concentrated on transport and traffic concepts and some background studies of the site. Importantly, the budget for the site development was also framed around infrastructure rather than the enhancement of the public domain.
The Masterplan focussed on a compact core for the Homebush site based around some of the existing facilities (i.e. the Aquatic and Athletic facilities and the office park development), a predetermined site for the Olympic Stadium, and a commitment for a fixed site for the relocated Sydney Showground. Given the thrust of the previous strategy, of necessity, the Masterplan also focussed on transport issues, to enhance and realign the previous strategies.
Design Objectives and Site Qualities
Major urban design objectives were to provide an ordering of these facilities and a form that gave primacy to the public domain, that respected the imprint of former uses, and that gave legibility to all the constituent parts.
The landscape setting at Homebush was observed as open, diverse in its elements, and largely industrial in character. The distinct topography powerful experiences (e.g. the brick pit), and subverted waterways (Haslams Creek and the wetlands), were all redolent with potential for re-interpretation. These qualities, which cross over ecological, functional and character boundaries, were identified to inform a vocabulary for the future landscapes.
At a functional level, the site's real life will be beyond the Olympic event, when large and small crowd demands will be made on the facilities and spaces. This wide range of conditions was reflected in the strategy for a compact core, and the provision of both object and street-edge buildings. A new fusion of urbanity and landscape setting was proposed.
A key intent was to provide an urban structure that would sustain a richness of uses over time, supporting a lively and diverse set of activities that might supplement major events. In addition, respect for the topography and the local landscape character influenced the planning.
The Masterplan
The plan for the core site was ordered by a loosely structured grid contained within the overall square of the centre, which was in turn surrounded by parkland or open space. This ordering respected the orthogonal grid of'paddocks' in the former site area, and allowed for a permeability of access through the site. This framework also gave some primacy to the public domain on a site where privatisation of sectors ran the risk of denying open public access.
The principal element in the plan was an 'Olympic Boulevard' cutting an axis through the core from north to south. This spine provided addresses for all the Olympic venues, the Showground and Rail Station, terminating with a view to Newington Village in the north and the Tennis Centre in the south. The Boulevard, traversing the contours, provided a major ordering and orientation element within the core, and acted as a focus for public circulation and public transport.
Perhaps the most significant proposition within the Masterplan was the introduction of the notion of a new major parkland to surround the core site-Millennium Parkland. While there was no brief for this and no intent (or indeed budget) to develop the site beyond the central core, it was clear to the masterplanning team that there was great potential to provide a major public legacy associated with the development at Homebush Bay. By incorporating the existing Bicentennial Park into a network of parklands that enveloped the core site, a major new park could be established (some 450 ha) that would play a role to western Sydney comparable to Centennial Park in the east. This would be a new type of park, dealing with the processes of reclaiming degraded land as a significant agenda for the contemporary city.
The Masterplan was a critical step in providing a framework for the enrichment of the Homebush site. It sought to provide urban qualities of legibility, memory, liveliness, convenience and safety to the site. It provided the basis of a shift from the pragmatic to the interpretative, and facilitated the much-needed overlays of public art and enhanced public space. It provided a robust basis for the future of a site that will continue to serve multiple agendas.
Client
Olympic Co-ordination Authority
Urban Design Team
Laurence Nield (Co-ordinator) Laurence Nield & Partners
Andrew Andersons Peddle Thorp
Oi Choong Context Landscape Design
Daryl Conybeare Conybeare Morrison
Ken Maher HASSELL
Philip Thalis Hill Thalis
