A new park on the former Water Police site at Pyrmont in Sydney has been named Australia's best public urban landscape project in the 2009 Public Domain Awards. The park was named Best Overall Project in the biennial awards, hosted by Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) this month.
Designed by Aspect Studios and constructed by Ford Civil Contractors for the City of Sydney, the park was also named Best Project for NSW and joint winner in the Precincts Category.
Sacha Coles, national director of Aspect Studios, says one of the aims of the design was to "reveal rather than deny the site's history as a working, industrial harbourside precinct."
To achieve this, original elements such as the low concrete wall on the water side of the foreshore promenade were retained and incorporated into the overall design. New elements such as the 'boomerang' concrete walls that sculpt the grove on the road side of the promenade also have an off-form finish to reflect the site's industrial past.
Aspect also wanted to give the community access to the harbour. Subtle level changes across the site lead visitors down to the water's edge, where concrete steps descend into an 'aquatic amphitheatre' defined by concrete forms.
