If all goes to according to plan, Perth’s beachside locale of Scarborough will undergo a $57.4 million transformation of its beachfront into a landmark destination for visitors, small business owners and investors.
Proposed by Chappell Lambert Everett (CLE) in association with Mackay Urban Design, the masterplan for the project has been released by the Government of Western Australia and will be subject to public feedback until 3 March.
If approved, the plan will see 100 hectares of Scarborough’s beachfront divided into four new destinations, incorporating a variety of public amenity, infrastructure projects and private developments.
Below: Scarborough as is today and bottom the proposal will see the beach front divided into four precincts. CLICK IMAGE FOR MORE DETAIL.
“Scarborough Square” will remain the main thoroughfare for the beach and incorporate the majority of the planned shops, cafes and restaurants as well as a space for markets and public performances.
Directly behind the Square, and back toward the town centre, will be the “Clock Tower” precinct which draws inspiration from the pedestrian friendly beaches of Manly in Sydney, Adelaide’s Glenelg Beach and California’s Venice Beach. The Clock Tower will serve as the entry point for the beachfront and will be made more accessible for pedestrians, thanks to landscaping design by Taylor Cullity Lethlean in association with Place Laboratory.
The “Beach Hub” is the third precinct and will involve the redevelopment of the current lifesaving club into a bar and restaurant, not unlike Sydney’s Tamarama Beach kiosk by Lahznimmo Architects.
A new area—“Sunset Hill”—will also be developed and include rolling lawns, a boardwalk and picnic facilities.
Click here to view the full Masterplan
Other amenity proposed by CLE includes a new 50 metre swimming pool, boardwalks, a skate park, a revitalised beachfront boulevard and the continuation of Scarborough Beach Road to a new beachfront transit mall that is fit for retail and dining tenancies.
The detailed masterplan also includes ecology and environmental strategies as well as strategies to improving the public realm within the space.
Planning Minister John Day says the redevelopment is tailored to high quality private sector projects and investment and that if approved, the ensuing area would become more attractive for both visitors and residents alike.
"Scarborough Beach is clearly one of the best beaches in Australia but the foreshore area here is not developed anywhere near as well as it could be," he told the ABC.
"It's been the site of far too much anti-social behaviour over the years."
Day told the ABC that he hoped the redevelopment would change this predicament but stressed the improvements would not be confined to just the foreshore.
Images: Western Australia Government.
