Buchan has brought light and life to Ipswich’s CBD with artistic projections now illuminated onto the suburb’s Metro B building on Nicholas Street.
The facade forms part of Ipswich City Council’s $250 million Nicholas Street Precinct redevelopment. Six 20K projectors immerse the facade in colour, reinventing the precinct as a safe CBD that channels New York’s Times Square.
“Ipswich is a young community with a median age of 32 and our digital projections and experiential technology are what sets us apart from the traditional CBD and showcases us as truly ready for the next generation,” says Ipswich Mayor, Teresa Harding.
“The new Nicholas Street Precinct provides a multi-generational mixed-use space -- kids can visit experiential libraries and galleries to draw and have their images projected to LED screens in the dedicated children’s library, teens can design and build 3D models, parents and grandparents can access technology and work remotely, and communities can enjoy digitally enhanced events.
“It also supports an engaged CBD that will draw the community back to the city heart after our local business community has endured some challenging times for many years. It will provide a social environment to work, live and connect.”
Buchan Senior Designer Patrick Shirley says the projections signify the completion of another major milestone for the precinct.
“The former Mall – the city heart of Ipswich – which many previously deemed unsafe after dark, has been reinvigorated into a living, breathing, fun place that people can bring their families to experience once more,” he says.
“Public spaces need versatility to transform so they don’t remain static. They must live and breathe with the people who occupy them.”
A series of artworks will serve as the backdrop for festivals and events, with tributes to the nearby Amberley RAAF base depicting an F-111, as well as historic trains from The Workshops Rail Museum. Shirley says experiential design ensures buildings can evolve without materiality or form being altered.
“Architecture is all about communicating place. Experiential design adds an extra layer to form and materiality as an ongoing means of communication, using video, arts, colour and motion, for the people who use these spaces. At Ipswich, the projections and illuminations are not simply screens on buildings; we have embedded technology within the architecture,” he says.
“Ipswich will serve as a model that other councils, grappling with dying main-streets, will look up to. The redevelopment has given hope to the people of Ipswich, who for a long time, felt the centre of town was in decline.
“It's been a wonderful experience to collaborate with the council and its stakeholders on such a large scale and with a unified vision, to recreate this space where people can take their families to and want to hang out.”
The designs were developed with computer gaming technology and VR headsets. Shirley says the depictions were near identical to the design in real life.
“Three years ago, we walked around the space with the clients using VR. Last month, I stood in the middle of Tulmur Place as they took away the boards and scaffolding with a wicked sense of deja vu. I was literally standing in this model that I've been walking around for years. It's almost shocking just how familiar everything is.”
Buchan has developed an interface for Ipswich Council to easily use to schedule façade projections. The next stage in the precinct’s redevelopment features a retail, hospitality and entertainment precinct, as well as a cinema and the historic Commonwealth Hotel. All spaces are expected to be completed by 2023.
