DESIGN COMPETITION NOW OPEN
05 Mar 2014
Calling all architects and landscape architects โ the City of Sydney wants your designs for a new sports recreation park and aquatic centre.
The City of Sydney is inviting architects and landscape architects to put their most creative designs forward for a new sports recreation park and aquatic centre for one of NSW’s fastest growing communities.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore urged architects to enter the new open competition, which she said provides a rare chance for them to compete on an equal footing, whether they are just starting out or at the peak of their careers.
“This is about getting the best designs possible and we urge architects from across the country to seize this opportunity to create wonderful places for local community members to swim, to play and to simply enjoy themselves,” the Lord Mayor said.
“City of Sydney projects are world renowned for design excellence, innovation and environmental sustainability and we hope architects will be inspired to work with us and the local community on our latest Green Square project.
“When we ran a similar competition for the Green Square Library and Plaza, the winning entry came from a pair of emerging architects who produced a striking concept that thrilled the judges and I know it will thrill the community when it is finished.
“The City puts a great deal of effort into getting good design in our streets and buildings and we believe that open competitions like this one deliver the best result for the whole community.”
By making stage one of the competition anonymous, architects all get the same chance to convince judges of the merits of their concepts for a major sporting and recreation precinct at Green Square, four kilometres south of the city centre.
When the City ran a similar design competition for a library and plaza last year, two Sydney architects in their 20’s were selected from 167 entries from around the world with a proposal that was labelled ‘brilliant’ by competition judge Glenn Murcutt, Australia’s only winner of international architecture’s highest honour, the Pritzker Prize.
Winners of the library competition, Felicity Stewart and Matt Hollenstein, are now working full-time on the project which will form the hub of the new Green Square Town Centre, next to where the new indoor aquatic centre and adjacent sports park will be located.
To enter the competition, architects and landscape architects must design the 1.6 hectare Gunyama Park at Zetland with facilities to meet the growing demand from the local community, including a synthetic multi-purpose playing field, children’s playground, outdoor exercise circuit and the Green Square Aquatic Centre.
A highly- regarded five-member jury will be chaired by Carey Lyon from Melbourne and includes Professor Richard Johnson, Camilla Block, Professor Gini Lee and Greg Holman.
Located on Joynton Avenue, the aquatic centre will be opposite the former South Sydney Hospital, which will be transformed into a creative community hub with facilities including artists’ studios, a community hall, childcare and healthcare facilities, affordable housing and a park.
By 2030, Green Square is projected to house nearly 50,000 people with a workforce of more than 20,000 and the City is spending $440 million building new infrastructure including roads, parks, community and childcare facilities.
Under the competition rules the City has developed based on guidelines from the Australian Institute of Architects and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, a panel of architects, landscape architects and aquatic experts will provide a shortlist of the best designs in the first stage of the competition.
In stage two selected architects will have 10 weeks to prepare more detailed designs. A cost planner will assess all short-listed entries.
All stage one entries will be placed on public display, with comments invited from the community and interest groups and put to the ‘jury’ for consideration. The City will announce the winning design late this year, with work on the project to begin soon after.
Architects wishing to enter the competition should look for details about registering for the competition on the City’s website: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/greensquaredesigncomp