Six design teams have been shortlisted for the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) Site Open Ideas Design competition, which will see the area next to Adelaide’s botanic gardens in the heart of the city revamped when RAH relocates in 2016.
The finalists were selected from 126 submissions across 24 countries, with none of the 29 South Australian teams making the final cut.
According to SA planning minister John Rau, most of the ideas submitted involved the demolishment of some current buildings.
“Some of them envisage large proportions of buildings on the site being demolished and the site being put over largely to open space or different space use,” says Rau.
“Others preserve a lot more of the existing buildings but refurbish them and provide different access and entry points through those buildings.”
Shortlisted entries:
Oculus (New South Wales)
The jury notes that Oculus’ plans provide generous extension of the Park Lands into the site, moving across the site from easy to west, finally arriving as a major park presence on Frome Road. This strategy will enhance the site’s relationship to the university campus to the west.
Slash (Victoria)
Slash proposes a revitalisation of the ground plan, with greater circulation and connectivity along existing arteries within the site, as well as the introduction of a new diagonal line of circulation, leading from the southwest corner through the site, to the Botanic Gardens. Part of this masterplan is the selective removal of a number of secondary buildings, while retaining the more important heritage elements of the site.
Zuzana & Nicholas (Queensland)
The submission proposed a large folding canopy, sheltering an area of flexible and adaptable space for a wide range of uses. According to the jury, the proposed new structure is a powerful large visual gesture that is extensive enough to generate a strong identity of the site, while limiting initial development costs. The plans also allow for incremental future development.
Bondhag & De Rosa (Germany)
The judges were particularly impressed by the considered reuse of the existing built fabric within this submission, noting that the strategy of editing, reordering and augmenting the site’s current built form provides multiple adaptable possibilities for the site. Cultural uses are not located in the high-visibility areas of the site’s periphery, but the team proposes to shift the cultural program ‘in-board’ to the centre of the site, promoting movement through and across the site.
Nice Architects (Slovakia)
The architects plan to retain and restore the buildings along both Frome Road and North Terrace, while demolishing the buildings within the site’s centre. The waste from this demolition is proposed to be formed into a hillscape, with the site becoming an ‘eco city landmark’, as well as creating a unique vantage point for city views.
Ysalazam (Colombia)
The jury considered the key strength of Tsalazam’s submission to be the extension of the park lands into the RAH site through the introduction of an area of urban forest, giving it new form. This represents a distinct type of landscape to the Adelaide Park Lands, although design development is required to resolve the inconsistencies evident with the Stage One submission.
The six teams will each receive $100,000 to develop their Stage Two proposal, which will take into account feedback from the jury and ideas gathered from the South Australian community and stakeholders. They will also be required to work with a registered South Australian architect or landscape architect on their final submissions, producing detailed plans, renders, models and video animations.
The final three will be announced in December, together with a People’s Choice. However, there is no guarantee that the State Government will use any of the designs for the site.
A public exhibition of the six shortlisted designs along with all the entries to the competition is being held at the State Archives Building at Leigh Street in the city until 27 September 2013.
For more information, please visit www.odasa.sa.gov.au/rahsite/.
