A NEW YORK-STYLE CENTRAL PARK IS COMING TO SYDNEY

With original plans for Australia's first city in 100 years released earlier this year, more designs regarding Bradfield City developments have been released. Planned around Sydney's second international airport, the city will be spread across more than 58 acres, and plans have been released of a Central Park at its centre.

Set to be the main civic space in the CBD, Bradfield City Centre’s Central Park will be spread across two hectares of the sustainably-designed city. The open-air space will not only provide access to nature within the CBD, but also serve as an arts and culture hub with public art integrated throughout. Chosen through a natinal design competition, ASPECT Studios' concept was chosen by a panel of experts from world-renowned architecture forms across the globe.

Under the current plans, the park will feature a meeting space with capacity for more than 5,000 people, with other interactive public spaces designed to encourage play, education and celebration of culture, while also providing shade, seating and other essentials.

As the first design competition in NSW to integrate Designing with Country as a core requirement, the park should set a new standard for how public spaces in Australia are formed. The winning design honours the heritage of the Dharug people with an ‘Interwoven Heart’ featuring Dharug weaving and a ‘Skyring installation’ celebrating Sky Country. Plus, a minimum of 65 per cent of the tree canopy cover will be formed from native flora.

The standout design feature is the striking Skyring, framing Big Sky Country by day and the stars at night. This is just one element of the park that has been Designed with Country. Celebrating, protecting and focusing on the sky whilst providing shelter, directing rainwater, and supporting misting water technology systems, the Sky Ring will be the first impression visitors have of Bradfield City Centre as they step from the Metro.

In addition to the the Sky Ring, design elements such as the Ephemeral Wetlands, the Gathering Place and the Interwoven Heart, a series of woven shelters creating a connected play experience as well as ongoing artistic practice opportunities for Dharug creatives, are driven by the idea of building a space that will be useable and relevant seven generations from its inception.

NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, is projecting the park will be “a beautiful and sustainable landmark city space that is going to be a gathering place for the people of Western Sydney for generations to come”.

Bradfield City Centre’s Central Park is due to open at the same time as the Bradfield Metro Station in 2026.