New South Wales Projects & Sites
Redfern Park Upgrade , Sydney
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Landscape Architect: Spackman Mossop and Michaels
Location: 51 Redfern Street, Redfern (Sydney) New South Wales
Project Overview
Redfern Park is one of Sydney’s most significant Parks established in the 1885. It was severely compromised in the late 1960’s when Redfern Stadium was built. This structure effectively cut the Park in two and alienated the Park from the local community.
This project was about rebuilding Redfern Park and making it once again a focus for the whole community. The simple landscape gesture of depressing the playing fields and moving the stadium to the side meant that long forgotten vistas and axis could be reestablished. This metaphor of healing the Park became emblematic of a wider social program for the project.
Sport as represented by the Redfern All Blacks and the South Sydney Rabittohs were a means of engaging with a disadvantage community that has few other means of expression in Australian Society.
The indigenous artist Fiona Foley contributed a playground that incorporates ideas regarding contemporary Australian society and its relationship to the original inhabitants.
T he park opens up the street and invites the residents of the area to make use of the facilities. The park has two clear areas; the new South Sydney Rabbitohs training ground (which when not in use is open to the public) and the original 19th Century Park, which has been extensively renovated.
The Park is now a hub within Redfern that has created social, cultural and economic opportunities for the local residents.
Special Factors
- P art of the City of Sydney’s initiative to undertake a renewal of Redfern by providing a social and recreational focus that the residents could feel justifiably proud
- Extensive consultation with local community
- Use of indigenous well known artists
- Planting schemes based on rare and unusual Fig species
- Restoration of the original design intent for the Park
Project Budget
Construction Budget: $11 million (total landscape construction budget)
Description
The principal aim of the project was to
- Restore the Park back to its original structure
- 2. Provide a social and recreational focus for the local community and
- Help restore pride in what is a severely disadvantaged community.
- The design cue was to let the Park be what it wanted to be, by stripping it back to the bones and removing all the layers that had grown over the Park in the late 20th Century while incorporating the functional requirements of a professional football team.
By depressing the formal playing fields and turning the Stadium to the side we were able to restore the park unity while creating a very formal field not out of place in a 19th Century park.
The park also incorporates a children playground, which has a balance between art, sculpture, playground form, politics and storytelling.
The children’s play area is open, inviting with refreshing water play elements as well as links to the Aboriginal culture. Spackman Mossop and Michaels in collaboration with Fiona Foley designed an intriguing space which has strong political, art and cultural ties within this lighthearted environment. Creating a modern edge to this formal park it brightens the space and opens the area up for further opportunities of enjoyment. The heritage of the area as well as the input surrounding Indigenous community was critical to the design of elements in the park
Design excellence and functional quality
Innovative design or demonstration of a new direction in profession
Redfern Park Upgrade saw working with the Urban Indigenous population. Dealing with the political and cultural issues of the contemporary Indigenous population has allowed us to recognise and help promote a resource for community to be proud of.
Clarity and legibility of expression of design concept
The design exercise was essentially reductionist in nature. Once the main gesture was completed, that is the depression of the playing field and the move of the Stadium it was simply a matter of letting the Park” breath”. It took a certain discipline to remove many recent or ill considered past design exercises to find the original park “ bones.”
Appropriateness to function
The Parks main element its playing field doubles as a village green and as a stormwater detention system. Simple robust detailing is appropriate in this area where longevity and low maintenance is a significant requirement. Thus for example many materials are used in their raw form with little or no applied finishes.
Response to brief
The project addresses the primary objectives of the brief by providing:
- Creating a unity between the park and the sports oval.
- Linking the streets with a continuous shared pedestrian and cycle path along the project, addressing the needs of all users
- Providing an upgraded park that links and retains the heritage of the site while also addressing the needs of the community by creating a recreation park allowing for a variety of uses.
- Enhanced community access as well as opening up the appropriate circulation routes linking the oval and surrounding streets.
- Providing a playing field for the local community, as well as new training ground for the Souths NRL Football club Rabbitohs a nd other community teams
Sensitivity to social, cultural, historical, physical and natural context
Redfern is a historic and colourful area of Sydney it is one of the most densely populated areas in Sydney with a lower socio-economic community. The Heritage of the park was key to the development of a consistent design vocabulary, with formalised park entries, realigned and broadened paths that kept with the existing and pre-existing nature of the park. The upgraded Redfern Park reflects the diverse needs of the local community, including indigenous and ethnic groups, and the wider community of inner Sydney.
Redfern Oval is the former home of the historic South’s rugby league team which played at the ground for 40 years between 1948 and 1987. The oval has a long history of football, a tradition that provides much enjoyment to many people from diverse backgrounds. The upgraded oval as well as providing a new and professional training ground for the South Sydney Rabbitohs has also allowed for the local football team the All Blacks to use the facilities as their home ground. It has provided an important place for the interaction of sports for the community as well as being an integral part in Australian life and recreation.
Environmental responsibility and sustainability
Employs or promotes sustainable policies or practices
Aquifer Recharge
The drainage of the football pitch will via a traditional subsurface “ag-drain” system laid beneath the growing medium of the pitch grass. This matrix of sub-surface drainage lines will incorporate aquifer return vertical “tail-pipes” which will allow excess water from either rainfall or irrigation to return to the aquifer. Irrigation water supply will be sourced from and existing on site bore. This system will also reduce stormwater run-off from the site.
Drip Irrigation
The Park uses sub-surface drip line irrigation. This approach supplies irrigation water directly at the level below ground covers mulch via “dripping” pipes laid into the growing medium below ground level. This approach reduces the volume of supplied water lost to evaporation when irrigating traditionally using surface sprinklers. The water supply will be drawn from the existing on-site bore with any backup required coming from the city main supply.
Rainwater Harvesting
Rainwater harvesting for greywater use on site is utilised in the spectator/park facilities. The roof of the Spectator Stand collects the rainwater and stores it in subsurface tanks. This water will only be used for grey-water which is WC flushing and the like. All irrigation will be via the existing on-site bore with back up from the city main supply. Solar Hot Water panels will are installed onto the roof of the Spectator Stand.
This solar hotwater will be used to supply demands within the facilities including change room showers. Backup hot water heating for peak over demand times will by utilities natural gas. Run-off Reduction “eco-pave” In addition to the aquifer-recharge system large extensive of hard paving will be “eco-paved”. These type of pavers allow rainwater penetration to the sub-soil layer below reducing stormwater run-off, better irrigating the surrounding landscape and allowing tree roots to breath.
Promotes biodiversity and supports local ecosystems
The park was originally laid out by Charles O Neil and was believed to have been a testing ground for various Fig Species to be used in the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. The planting plan reflects this past use with a wide variety of rare or unusual Fig species .
Value Existing Landscape
The existing site is a Victorian Park as well as once being the South Sydney home ground. The design has included the existing park elements by restoring heritage items as well as keeping in the Victorian style of the park. Community consultation was key to this project it was recognised that a space for everyone was required, a space that encouraged a wide range of community activities.
Relevance to the profession of landscape architecture, the public, and the education of future practitioners
Expands the scope of the profession in formative, forward-looking and thought-provoking ways
This project was about creating a facilitity that a disadvantaged community could rally around and feel proud of. It involved on behalf of the designers engaging a process of understanding and engagement beyond a normal professional relationships.
For Multi-discipline / collaborative projects: the role and influence of the landscape architect. Spackman Mossop Michaels were responsible for the overall park design and programming of the space. All teams members worked in a seamless fashion with the Architects and artist.
introduction / overview / images / location / Projects
2010
