New South Wales Projects & Sites
The Former Water Police Site / Pirrama Park Master Plan
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Landscape Architect: ASPECT Studios
Location: Pirrama Road, Pyrmont, Sydney NSW Australia
Introduction
The Former Water Police Site/ Pirrama Park Master Plan at Pyrmont, designed by ASPECT Studios in collaboration with Hill Thalis and CAB Consulting, brings the formerly alienated public land of the Water Police site at Pyrmont into the public realm.
The master plan for Sydney’s new 1.8 hectare waterfront park is a transformative urban parkland project - borne from community action. The project restores the powerful relationship of Harris Street to the water and delivers unique, waterside community facilities, innovative sustainable components including solar energy and far reaching storm water initiatives.
The master plan interprets the site’s successive shorelines and rich maritime associations. The location of the original shoreline informs the placement of the generous promenade. By its exposed encampments and harbour reclamation the site mutely tells a part of Sydney’s wharf making history. The sandstone cliff which frames the park transcends its pragmatic origins and forms a delightful contribution to the park’s luminous late afternoon light.
The robust wharf apron and a central long, low retaining wall underpins the geometry of the parks outboard elements. Supplementary wharf structures have been removed, to reinstate and build upon the earlier relationship of Harris Street to Sydney Harbour. A wide terrace corresponding to the Harris Street alignment now extends over the harbour edge, its underside lapped by high water spring tides.
The master plan provides a variety of places for harbourside enjoyment. It provides multiple new paths and a waterfront promenade around the Pyrmont foreshore, an important link in the 14km network of open space extending from Rozelle to Rushcutters Bay. The grounded grove and playground are subtly elevated above and behind inclined concrete retaining walls. The wall geometry interprets the location of the original shoreline and forms the inboard edge of the promenade. The swale, which forms the edge of the promenade, rehabilitates street stormwater from the local catchment before entering the harbour. The swale is part of a more complex stormwater management system, which includes filters, below ground water storage and park irrigation.
The Point and Green and The Sheltered Bay occupy platforms previously reclaimed from Sydney harbour. The stepped platforms north and south of the bay occupy the inter-tidal zone and intensify the experience of twice daily rhythms of capturing, flooding and retreating water. They are wonderful social places for landing small watercraft, wading and swimming, fishing and yarning, reinstating ways in which the harbour at Pyrmont used to be incorporated into daily rituals.
The architectural elements include a steel stair hung from the sandstone cliff face and three steel framed shade pavilions. A canopy and belvedere help define a landscaped Community Square at the harbour edge termination of Harris Street. The canopy provides a civic-scaled shelter that announces the presence of the park to the streets and harbour. The belvedere provides an elevated outlook from the street across the park. At park level, it provides a café, toilets and park services.
The square is defined by the sandstone cliff on the curve of Pirrima Road, the canopy, pavilion and indented bay. This sunny, sheltered place can accommodate a range of public uses including cultural events + performances, meetings, markets, festivals and the like, appropriate to the evolving urbanity of Pyrmont Point.
Together the structures are conducive to human occupation; whether walking along a footpath, perched against the belvedere, snacking in the cafe, or sitting in the shade; the architecture forms the dignified backdrop to urban life, to quiet solitude and happy socialisation.
introduction / overview / images / location / Projects
2010
