Queensland Sites
South Bank Parklands
Mark Fuller
article originally published landscape australia 2-2002
Brisbane's South Bank, once the gathering place for local indigenous groups, later the site of one of the most successful World Expositions, Expo 88, now attracts over nine million visitors each year, with almost five million enjoying the 17 hectare South Bank Parklands that are at the heart of the precinct.
Introduction
The South Bank precinct has become one of Brisbane's signature sites and one where the full potential of Brisbane's sub-tropical outdoor environment can be enjoyed. The cultural focus of the precinct has now been enhanced through the location of tertiary education activities, such as the Queensland Conservatorium and College of Art, to complement the established Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Museum.
Fig trees grow in a trench above the underground carppark, defining a shaded edge to the lawns (all photos by Chris jones)
In June 1997, the South Bank Corporation undertook a review of the existing planning and site conditions, commissioning Denton Corker Marshall (DCM) of Melbourne to prepare a new masterplan to guide the future development of the precinct. This resulted in a number of planning strategies and recommendations to reinforce the precinct as a distinct urban place, with a new street pattern and parkland structure.
Some of the key recommendations boldly adopted by the Corporation were: removal of an artificial canal that created a barrier to pedestrian movement along the western side of the precinct; realignment of Grey Street back to fit the City Grid; demolition of raised and poorly accessible plazas and pedestrian walkways; and provision of a new underground parking station.
The detailed strategies included creating legible entry points and well-defined edges, better connections with the river and the city, removing the busway paraphernalia that bisected the precinct, creating more attractive development parcels, and creating additional open parkland for passive recreation.
Gillespies Australia were commissioned to work alongside DCM and the Corporation's team to realise these strategies through the landscape and urban design of the precinct.
Design Objectives
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A number of objectives for the landscape and urban design of the precinct flowed from the approval of the masterplan by the Corporation. The main focus of these included:
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Creating a `Great Street' for Brisbane in the new Grey Street, with attractive new mixed-use development sites;
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Simplifying and rationalising the existing soft landscape and providing more open lawns and shaded areas;
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Creating a new permeable pedestrian precinct with at-grade streets and footpaths linked to the city network, improving wayfinding and personal security within the park, and promoting an accessible site throughout the street and parkland environment;
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Opening up views of the city and the Brisbane River and providing better visual links to the surrounding streets;
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Creating a landmark structure through the creation of a `Grand Arbour'; Integrating a new 800-space underground carpark;
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Reviewing maintenance and management operations; and
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Achieving value for money
A new emphasis is placed on lawns and shade trees.
The vibrantly coloured Bougainvillea 'Magenta' was the plant of choice for the arbour.
Grey Street
Transformed from a pedestrian-unfriendly busway to a new prestige address and retail quarter for Brisbane, Grey Street provides the primary point of vehicular access to the precinct and a critical link to the surrounding city streets. The street form evolved from a true team approach to achieve a balance between essential traffic requirements and a pedestrian and bicycle-friendly environment. What has emerged is a grand, tree-lined boulevard, framed each side by a seven-metre-high vine-covered pergola that provides a distinctive coordinating framework to the progressive development of the built form.
Simple lines of planting and water features.
Central to the street is a row of Queensland Kauri (Agathis robusta), whose strong colour and columnar trunks establish a robust green spine. The street is flanked by Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides), which provide a more intimate and shaded footpath environment. As new buildings continue to realise the opportunities created by the redevelopment, Grey Street is set to become one of the truly memorable subtropical streets of Brisbane.
A Subtropical Environment
Prior to the development of the new masterplan, the planting within the parklands had achieved varying degrees of success. The post-Expo emphasis on repositioning the site and establishing a new image through strongly themed and extensively planted spaces now had to be edited and rationalised to create a new role as a true city park of distinction.
The objective was to transform the new parkland areas (created by removing the artificial canal and realigning Grey Street) into a more informal open-grassed parkland, with shaded canopy trees and more space for picnics, informal sports and simple passive enjoyment.
A new `permeable' edge to Little Stanley Street to the west has been established with a simple line of Figs (Ficus hillii). These will grow to establish an open curtain of shade between the street and the parkland lawns.
Other planting, much of it rescued from demolished areas of the earlier parkland, is confined to shrub and tree planting at interfaces between lawns and buildings, to loosely define the open spaces along the length of the parklands. Several large shade trees were also incorporated, and a mature fig, brought in by barge up the Brisbane River, was located to become an instant centrepiece for a pedestrian plaza defining a new entrance for the Queensland Conservatorium.
The planting regime generally sought a more modest role as a backdrop to the activities of the parkland users. However, an opportunity was taken to exploit some of the unique native plant material of Queensland, providing a further depth of enjoyment to inquisitive visitors. As contrast, the Grand Arbour was covered with a magenta mantle of Bougainvillea, a blatantly exuberant ribbon of colour swirling through the length of the parklands.
Simple, yet elegant, water features were incorporated to provide a cool and welcoming entry from Little Stanley Street to the west and to provide an attractive edge to frame the outdoor seating areas of the existing cafes.
Much of the new work is above the 800-space underground carpark. Appropriate structural support and depths for the planting and drainage zones above were integrated with the carpark design from the outset.
Relocated Royal Palms (Roystonia regia) were used
to define the new entry from the west.
Queensland Kauri (Agathis robusta) along the
centre of the realigned Grey Street establish a new character.
The arbour creates a pedestrian spine through the parklands.
A Pedestrian Precinct
The removal of artificial barriers, such as the busway and the canal, have opened up the riverfront and integrated the precinct once more with its surrounding city streets. All the new work has been designed with equity of access considerations, to make this one of the most readily accessible public open spaces in the city.
Within the parklands, the removal of other restrictions on movement was a priority with the new work, including the gates and walls of the piazza, the redundant 'Gondwanaland' structures, and difficult-to-access pedestrian bridges and terraces.
Paths have been rationalised and a new hierarchy developed based on the central spine of the Grand Arbour, complementing the existing riverside Clem Jones Promenade and the new streetscapes of Grey Street and the accompanying Little Stanley Street.
The parklands can now be accessed easily from the surrounding streets, directly from the underground carpark, by ferry and Citycat from the river, and, once again, from a legible street network. The recently opened Goodwill Bridge provides direct links to the City Botanic Gardens, QUT and the Central Business District.
New bikeways have been incorporated into the street design to reduce areas of conflict with cyclists along the Clem Jones Promenade. Low-speed recreation cycling has been maintained as part of the mix of informal leisure opportunities within the parklands.
Improving Visual Links
The success of some of the post-Expo planting and a management regime that had taken on a life of its own had started to impact on important and defining visual links from the parklands to the city and to the river corridor. Tree crowns have been lifted and mass planting areas rationalised, to open up sightlines and breezeways, without impacting on the overall maturity of the successful areas of planting.
The Grand Arbour
Already one of the landmark images of subtropical Brisbane, the arbour is a sculptural structure providing a lyrical pedestrian spine through the parklands, over a kilometre in length. It offers shade and shelter, access to the underground carpark, and locations for parades and husking along its length. The Bougainvillea canopy is now beginning to take shape and is managed to weave a ribbon of magenta between the steel posts above.
Conclusion
Brisbane's magnificent river is once again central to the enjoyment and pride of the city New developments along its flanks are redefining the city's image and opening up new cultural and leisure opportunities. As the South Bank Parklands precinct continues to evolve at the centre of this activity, it remains a signature site for Brisbane's subtropical lifestyle, "one of the great built riverscapes of the world".
Project Details
Landscape Architect: Gillespies Australia (2007 footnote: In 2005 Gillespies Australia was merged into EDAW )
Masterplan & Arbour Design: Denton Corker Marshall
Client: South Bank Corporation
Contractor: Walter Constructions Landscape
Construction: Digit Landscapes Completion
Date: 1997-ongoing
