Sydney Public Space Ideas Competition

Playbox-unfold today, tomorrow, tonight and The Woccanmagully Steps

Client: Committee for Sydney
Our role: Concept Development, Strategy & design
Location: Ewen Park, Sydney, Australia
Year: Summer 2020
Status: Ongoing


The Committee for Sydney and the NSW Government opened a competition that encouraged reimagining the public spaces in Greater Sydney. The objective of the competition is to raise awareness, improve understanding and clarify the definition of the value of public space. Therefore, we submitted two entries, in which one is focusing on reactivation of Ewen Park and the other one is focusing on the waterfront reinforcement.

Playbox:
Ewen Park (City of Canterbury Bankstown) is an important district park right on the Cooks River. It forms the junction of the Cooks River and GreenWay cycleways and is only a 10 minute
walk from Hurlstone Park train station. This regionally significant place has been left with
derelict tennis courts for too many years. The community wants to realise the potential of this
special and beautiful place through creating lots of fun things to do for everyone.
PLAYBOX can be temporary or permanent. It will transform the Cooks River from a transit corridor
to a place worth staying. The river holds such beauty and has a lot of open space, yet so few things to do. Building the PLAYBOX at Ewen Park will create not only a central meeting point for the community, but a reason to play for all ages. From young children to teenagers and adults, PLAYBOX offers something for everyone.The detailed concept would be designed in consultation with the community and ideally be operated by the many actively engaged community groups and residents who live near the Cooks River. With so many functions that all pack neatly into a box, PLAYBOX can be many
things to many people, day and night.

The Woccanmagully Steps:For this proposal we imagine that wooden platforms will replace the rocky barrier and reestablish the lost connection between the two landscapes. Our suggestion is composed of jumbo wooden stairs that allow the users to see the waterfront, but at the same time, strengthen the connection with the Botanical Garden through its sitting functionality, allowing people to take a break and glance at the view around them. The stairs are transforming into a platform that offers accessibility to the ocean. We want to challenge the safety barriers thus our design, in a simple manner where the user can tip his toe into the water without being afraid, or just relax on the wooden amfitheater and watch the seagulls and feel the
drops of the crashing waves

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