Gardens Point 1
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) Gardens P o i n t CoLLABORATION between ,. the PARLIAMENT, the CITY, and a UNIVERSITY. Prepared for AUSTRALIA AWARD FOR URBAN DESIGN by Brisbane City Council Queensland University of Technology Queensland University ofTechnology CONTENTS THE MASTER PLAN FOR GARDENS POINT 1 GARDENS POINT-AT THE HEART OF BRISBANE 1 THE GARDENS POINT PENINSULA 2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 2 VISUAL SIGNIFICANCE 3 SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE 3 CHANGE IN INTENSITY OF USE 4 THE RESULTS OF DISPARATE PLANNING 4 RESPONSE TO CHANGE 4 THE PROC~SS,. OF CHANGE 5 DETERMINING TERMS OF REFERENCE 5 THE INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF URBAN DESIGN 6 NEGOTIATIONS \NITH STAKEHOLDERS 6 THE JOINT \1\/P STRATEGY 8 THE MAJOR ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED 8 THE PREFERRED STRATEGY 8 COMMUNICATION \NITH CITIZENS 11 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MASTER PLAN 12 TRANSPORTATION AND ACCESS 12 VIE\NS, VISTAS AND LANDMARKS 14 CULTURAL AMENITIES 15 FUTURE STRATEGIES 15 TRANSFERABLE PRINCIPLES AND PROCESSES 16 APPENDIX 1: MASTER PLAN 18 APPENDIX II: ORIGINAL DECISION MAKERS 19 I THE JV\ASTER PLAN FC>R GARDENS POINT Gardens Point is an area of historical and An excellent example of a cooperative contemporary importance to the City of design team's work to achieve a Brisbane and the State of Queensland. solution for a significant public open The master plan which is the subject of space in central Brisbane. The text was the submission (Appendix I) was relevant and beautifully illustrated released in 1985 and proposed a unified with appropriate graphics. It was approach to the Point's design and use. supported with studies and data which Many concepts of the plan have been dealt effectively with the planning and implemented, directly or in modified design issues inherent in the site form. planning. The master plan proposals were illustrated with a series of The master plan was based on a study drawings which exposed the design undertaken during 1984 Gardens Point intent philosophy and step by step Brisbane: A Strategy for Use, Rehabilitation developed the design options into the and Development, (3 Vols). The study team master plan stage. The presentation of commissioned and drew upon the report achieved a high standard in geophysical, horticultural, physical and both context and graphics. services reports, and nine user requirements and attitude surveys or The implementation of the plan required papers. three independent institutions, Parliament, Brisbane City and QUT, to The report itself, the basis of the plan, take the recommendations into account won the 1986 Australian Institute of when determining future actions, and the Landscape Architects National Projects active support of the Queensland Award of Merit in Category #8, Research Government over a long period. and Studies. The citation read: • • • • • • • GARDENS POINT-AT THE HEART OF BRISBANE Three necessary components of a state Gardens Point Peninsula, within the capital are a parliament, central curve of the Brisbane River that contains parklands, and vocational education. The the modem high-rise City (Slide #2: institutions embodying these Context). components, in tum, provide social and The submission examines how a 19th and economic direction to the state, recreation early 20th century response to fulfilling and refreshment for workers, and the core functions has been modified for intellectual capital for business and the late 20th/ early 21st centuries. government. The three core functions are grouped in one area in the heart of Brisbane City, • • • • • • • THE GARDENS POINT PENINSULA Gardens Point is at the southern end of a the majestic Bunya Walk planted in 1858 majestic sweep of the Brisbane River that in honour of James Bidwill, an important also encloses the commercial heart of colonial botanist, is but one example of Brisbane. It contains about 18 hectares of heritage import. gardens some 150 years old, three hectares Educationally, Gardens Point has been on which stand the houses of parliament, the centre of university and technical and seven hectares, QUT's Gardens Point education provision since the turn of the campus, catering to 15 000 students. century. In 1908 the Brisbane, South Brisbane, and West End Technical • HISTORICAL Colleges were amalgamated into the BACKGROUND Central Technical College. In 1909 the Gardens Point is about one kilometre secretary of the Central Technical College from the GPO, generally taken to be the wrote to Premier Kidston supporting the city centre. The residence for the first recommendation made by a royal Governor of Queensland Sir George commission into the establishment of a Ferguson Bowen was completed on the university, that the the College and the Point in 1862. The Colonial Architect, proposed university should collaborate in Charles Tiffin, designed a new teaching and building use. Parliament House to be built adjacent to The Government of the day determined the Governor's residence in 1863 and the that the site for this collaboration would new house was used for the first time in be Gardens Point, in the Old Government 1868. The grounds were laid out by House Domain Reserve. In 1911, Walter Hill and built with sandstone following the move of the governor to a from a local quarry near W acol (15 km new residence at Fernberg, The west of Brisbane). Old Government University of Queensland commenced House remained the official residence teaching in Old Government House, until1910 when Sir William Macgregor which remained its headquarters until its took up residence at Fernberg. progressive relocatation to its present The Point, therefore, has for long been western city location in St Lucia starting regarded as the setting of government in in 1948. It moved all activity from the Queensland. House only in 1967 and ceased teaching at the Point in 1978. The site for the Gardens was surveyed in 1828, and the Gardens used to grow The provision of technical education was vegetables for the new colony. In 1842 the centralised in the new buildings of Central site was designated for Botanic Gardens Technical College duririg 1913/1914. Nine purposes. Its real development started in buildings were designed, the University 1855 with the appointment of Walter Hill and the College sharing the specialist as first Superintendent and the science and engineering buildings. This appropriation of £500 to purchase rare unified approach to design left the plants. In spite of this meagre allocation, educational site with the "red brick" and as a result of Hill's dedication, the technical college buildings, which Gardens had a strong horticultural remained one of the strong themes which impact on Queensland. For example, later QUT buildings sought to reflect. experimental plantings showed the This close connection between technical viability of sugar cane and ginger as and higher education was broken with crops. As well, many singular trees and the relocation of The University of plants were introduced, and a general Queensland to St Lucia, but reconstituted collection of historical significance with the creation of the Queensland created. The Gardens contain upward of Institute of Technology in 1965. 12 000 species of plants including a rare collection of palms and figs, as well as a The Gardens Point campus is a striking large collection of hibiscus, Camellia, and location for a university, one of the best in azalea variation. An outstanding feature, Australia. The campus cascades downhill from the George Street ridge to the within the design constraints of a major River's edge, a fall of some 10 metres. city make the solution of general The Botanic Gardens provide an applicability, and deserving of the highest unrivalled entrance of luxuriant sub recognition. tropical vegetation, epitomised by the many giant fig trees with impressive • SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE aerial root systems. The historic The three uses of the Point, government, buildings, the Old Government House recreation and education, have major and Parliament, are a reminder to social significance. students and staff alike of the permanence of great achievement. The central location of the Parliament at the focus of transport routes, thus The setting is a tribute to the foresight of accessible to citizens rich or poor, is of our 19th century pioneers. great importance in a democracy. • VISUAL SIGNIFICANCE Central city gardens are a source of passive recreation to nearby office Captain Cook Bridge is the main workers and to shoppers, and a southern entry to the city of Brisbane, convenient site at the focus of public and provides the first and strongest transport routes for meetings of the close-up view of t}te cityscape. On the left of the bridge lies the South Bank _ extended family on weekends. development of the Expo 1988 site. On From 1940 onwards the use of the Botanic the right lies Gardens Point, a peninsula Gardens as a city park grew in importance. enclosed by the Brisbane River. The For example, by the 1980s, the City's Free background of city high-rise buildings Entertainment in the Parks program naturally attracts the attention of regularly attracted crowds of three to five travellers, both visitors and residents, so thousand, and the W arana spring festival a that the perspective, Gardens Point total attendance of some 40 000. across to the City, presents a frequent and powerful image of Brisbane. One of the research reports commissioned for the Gardens Point study and based on The scenic amenity of Brisbane as a city, a statistical sample of all dwelling units in therefore, is heavily influenced by this the Brisbane Statistical Division, reported first impression. Urban design issues are that the Gardens were judged as making a among the many forces that act on a city major contribution to the overall character and play an important role in modelling of the City centre. "Respondents saw the its character. A city is perceived as much Gardens as more significant in this respect by its physical appearance as by its than the City Mall, Albert Park, and the economic strength.