#SWP: Victoria Square Redevelopment (Stage One)

[Giorgio]

I liked Amanda Blairs proposal for a Screen to be put there for the World Cup.
Read the article if you get a chance, she is spot on with every point as she is in every article she has ever written.

[Roar/]

Todays paper?

[Giorgio]

no, her column in the Sunday Mail.

[crawf]

I think we have all seen this coming......

Vic Square: People's Plaza
Article from: The Advertiser

CRAIG BILDSTIEN, CITY EDITOR

August 13, 2007 02:15am

ROAD closures and tunnels for Victoria Square could be part of a move to turn the city precinct into a "people's plaza".

(AdelaideNow would like to hear your ideas for Victoria Square. Scroll down to the comment box below.)

The State Government and Adelaide City Council will offer two $10,000 cash prizes. Designs have been produced, canvassing closing roads, extending the parkland area and introducing tunnels to the city's heart.

Adelaide figures and politicians say Victoria Square needs to be brought back to life, in line with the major development surrounding it.

Lord Mayor Michael Harbison said yesterday he wanted a "people's plaza" for the 110,000 workers, 100,000 visitors and 60,000 students using the city daily.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Patrick Conlon challenged South Australians to "argue their brains out" to come up with both a minimalist and an inspirational concept for the square, branded an "inhospitable wasteland" by the Institute of Architects.

They have agreed to jointly fund the competition after the relocation of the Glenelg to city tramline to the western side of the square, closer to the Hilton Hotel.

The competition will offer a $10,000 prize for an ambitious, all-encompassing design for Victoria Square and a $10,000 prize for a redesign of the now-defunct central tram stop.

While he was elected on a platform of opposing a proposed $18 million redevelopment of Victoria Square in 2003, Mr Harbison says the tram extension has opened up a new opportunity to "finally conquer the place for the people".

"My personal hope is that we might take an approach like Cathedral Square in our sister city Christchurch, New Zealand, where the tram meanders through the people's plaza," he said.

Asked if he still opposed the closure of Wakefield/Grote St to east-west traffic through the square, Mr Harbison replied: "I think that moving the tram track has opened up a new canvas for all of us.

"Not since Sir James Irwin created the diamond back in the '60s for John Darley's fountain have we had an opportunity like this."

Mr Conlon said he hoped the competition would "stir up a bit of imagination" among South Australians about what the square should look like and what it should be used for.

While details are yet to be finalised, the Capital City Committee is expected to judge concepts for a cost-free, minimalist approach and a "no limits" inspirational theme.

Asked if he had any suggestions, Mr Conlon said he thought a regular market, similar to Darwin's popular Mindil Beach market, could be a good low-cost solution.

"It might be a good idea to build upon what I think is really great about Adelaide - the Central Market - perhaps with a seafood and wine festival where the first crayfish of the season arrives by tram," he said.

While Mr Conlon refused to make any financial commitment to redeveloping Victoria Square beyond the initial prizemoney, he said it was important to "get people thinking and have a bit of fun".

Asked about Adelaide City Council's decision in 2003 to shelve plans for the square in favour of maintaining Wakefield/Grote St through traffic, Mr Conlon said "closing the road is only one option".

"There are now far more options. We now have double the space in the south to use, and blocking through traffic is not necessary to make good use of the square now," he said.

Mr Harbison said that while 20,000 vehicles passing through Victoria Square daily had been a problem in the past, the shifting of the tram track presented the possibility to "flip the western roadway to the east".

Mr Harbison said council recognised any plan could be expensive and welcomed the State Government's interest.

Royal Australian Institute of Architects state manager, Chris Bowe, said Victoria Square was an "inhospitable wasteland" despite numerous efforts to do something about it over the past 25 years.


--------------


Seven ways to redesign square
Article from: The Advertiser

MATT WILLIAMS

August 13, 2007 02:15am

SEVEN design options for Victoria Square, drawn up by independent consultants, have been informally presented to Adelaide City Council.

A council consultant began examining options for the square last year and it received concept plans early last month.

A council spokeswoman said the options were "only concepts at a very early stage to get discussion happening". "There has been no resolution by council at this point," she said.

"We will use the plans to work collaboratively with the State Government in their future plans for Victoria Square and for the new tram line."

The seven options drawn up by the consultants are:

* TWO-WAY traffic on the west side, providing two large plazas, and consolidating movement into one corridor.

* TWO-WAY traffic on the east side, linking to the market and the south-west city, two large plazas, maintaining the tram corridor, and consolidating the traffic corridor.

* TWO-WAY tunnel to the east, reducing the traffic footprint, creating larger event spaces, direct access to the square, and large half spaces.

* CENTRAL tunnel running from north-to-south, creating a large central space, four large quadrants, and direct access to the square.

* CENTRE road providing direct access to square, strong symmetry, losing central space, and running trams through the western plazas.

* CENTRE road providing direct access to the square, trams running through the square, would give four large open spaces, a single corridor, strong symmetry, but central space would be lost.

* ALL traffic underground, providing direct access to the square, a large area for events and community use, a central symbolic space, and would remove all traffic through the square.


------------------


Time Lord Mayor showed vision
Article from: The Advertiser

CRAIG BILDSTIEN

August 13, 2007 02:15am

AN $18 million "master plan" for Victoria Square was adopted by the Adelaide City Council in 2003.

That included closing Wakefield/Grote St to through traffic and examining the cost of an underground tunnel.

Despite the enormous amount of work, research and consultation for three years beforehand, the project was dumped by Michael Harbison as soon as he became Lord Mayor.

Mr Harbison ran a "do nothing" in Victoria Square election campaign - and it worked.

His predecessor, Alfred Huang, who supported the master plan, was tipped out of Town Hall.

As Mr Harbison approaches his next election, due on October 17, he is singing from a different hymn sheet on Victoria Square.

The re-siting of the tram track, he argues, presents an opportunity to "finally conquer the place for the people".

Hopefully, with $20,000 cash as a strong incentive, the competition to solicit ideas from the public will throw up some concepts to motivate Mr Harbison to extend his vision beyond mowing the lawns, scraping chewing gum off the footpaths and weeding the garden beds!
Share this article

[AtD]

Undoubtedly needed, but both the state and the ACC need to show us the money, or this could be yet another talk-fest that achieves nothing.

[Cruise]

* ALL traffic underground, providing direct access to the square, a large area for events and community use, a central symbolic space, and would remove all traffic through the square.

I like this idea.

But as ATD said it will all just be a big talk fest with little to no outcome.

[hydraadl]

I had a look at todays paper and I noticed the article was tagged as exclusive, whenever I see the word "exclusive" in the advertiser I know it's just a joke.

[TooFar]

ANTIMO IANNELLA
October 09, 2007
The Advertiser
AN ADELAIDE consortium of architects is urging Adelaide City Council to reconsider their radical multi-million dollar plan to redevelop Victoria Square.

The proposal, which features a 2000-space underground car park and a 97 metre tower, was first presented to council in 1992.

It was revived in 1996 and in 2003 but talks between council, consortium and developers broke down.

Head of the consortium, architect Michael Thiele, said the commercial project was the ideal way to redevelop Victoria Square.

"We believe our original idea still holds today," Mr Thiele said.

"It's very viable. We think we have a winner because the way its packaged it will cost the council and the State Government very little."

Under the plan, a developer would fund the majority of the project, which is expected to cost up to $300 million.

The developer would recoup costs through the three-level underground car park before handing back ownership to the council.

"It is a completely self-funded project and that is the secret," he said. "It's just a matter of getting the council and the developer to come to agreement."

The redeveloped square would centre around a steel and glass tower, with the north and south sections united in a plaza.

The proposal also features an underpass beneath the tower for Wakefield St traffic, and shops, restaurants and gardens.

Mr Thiele described the square in its current form as a shambles.

"At the moment you look from North Terrace to Victoria Square and there's nothing," he said.

Anyone have a drawing of this propsal?

[Sydneylaide]

Just Make it a 200m Glass Tower and ill be a happy boy..

[splashmo]

I don't want to see a tower built in the middle of Victoria Square, when it could just as easily be built elsewhere. The square is far too important for that.

[Howie]

Originally Posted by Sydneylaide

Just Make it a 200m Glass Tower and ill be a happy boy..

Agreed... another 100m and surround it with parklands and public space, and it would look perfect.

This looks like a re-jig of the older proposal for a massive spire in the heart of adelaide cbd. Good to see it's not dead.

[eastadl]

but wouldn't it look great, when you look or drive down the 4 main axis of our city, which meet in the middle at the square (King William/Grote/Wakefield) to see a tower rise up no matter which side of the parklands your on. It'd look great.

[Mozsmith]

The competition will offer a $10,000 prize for an ambitious, all-encompassing design for Victoria Square and a $10,000 prize for a redesign of the now-defunct central tram stop.


The two $10,000 prizes offered are not that enticing when considering the fact it is a central square in a city the size of Adelaide.

Why not up the prize money and try to attract more international interest in the project?

[AtD]

Well neither the state nor the ACC have committed to actually doing anything. To make the competition worth while, you'd also need a promise of funding of the project, and a commitment from both the government and the ACC to actually do something, rather than the project again getting killed by endless petty bickering and political games.

[AdelaideSkytraveller]

Originally Posted by AtD

Well neither the state nor the ACC have committed to actually doing anything. To make the competition worth while, you'd also need a promise of funding of the project, and a commitment from both the government and the ACC to actually do something, rather than the project again getting killed by endless petty bickering and political games.

Now thats what were talking about AtD. Problem has always been lack of ACC and Government willingness to actually fund the project!. There is nothing wrong with the plans a few years back by KBR as shown in www.sensational-adelaide.com forums with the closed off road and the outdoor enterainment stage etc. Heck all it needs is a tunnel for Grote Street,
Wakefield Street to calm down the Central Market whingers. Problem is it will
cost most likely $100+ million (mostly for the tunnel otherwise probably $25 million) which both the ACC and SA Government are unwilling to pay. That is why they are now putting on a crap $10,000 contest just to say they are doing something on the issue when in reality they are doing shit all, its just another bloody do-nothing and hope it goes away talk fest.

[StopTheWar]

can someone explain this plan to me?

i dont get it.

How can traffic from Grote to Wakefield street not be blocked off, when they look blocked off in this plan?

I thought by not blocking off the link between those streets is was got Harbi elected.



http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...006301,00.html

[Pistol78]

This is a shocker of a design... If done, it will be a waste of 40 mil. And now the council wants the govt. to contribute? This won't happen, well I hope that it doesn't anyway.
I know that Vic square is terrible atm but lets get a decent proposal on the drawing board eh?

[Mpol]

Yeah the design is just so... plain. Give is something to grovel over.

[AtD]

It's not blocked off, it looks like a paved 'shared zone.' I don't think this plan is grand enough for the square, but I'd still like to see more details. Still, it looks rather uninspiring in that article.

[crawf]

I need to see some more details, before I make my judgment.