About the Project
The result of innovative thinking and a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach, Wadanggari Park is a highly complex project that has been constructed over the North Shore railway line, adjacent to the Pacific Highway at St Leonards, where available land is limited. Quite possibly the only park built over a railway line in Australia, Wadanggari Park delivers much-needed public open space to St Leonards, supporting the new residential and commercial communities moving into the suburb.
Brief
Research and detailed analysis of the site’s potential for programming and circulation, underpinned the creation of this new precinct for the St Leonards community. Wadanggari Park provides significant open space amenity with retail activation, play area, alfresco dining space, passive recreation space, an events hub, and accessible connections to the St Leonards residential zone south of the Pacific Highway with a revitalised subterranean link below the Pacific Highway to the existing station.
Design Principles & Process
Arcadia’s landscape concept for this project is based on extending the green corridors of bushland which connect the CBD of St Leonards to Sydney Harbour. The public plaza will provide significant amenity, with retail activation, passive recreation space, community lawn, play area and alfresco dining space.
Context & Materiality
As increasing numbers of residents and tenants move into St Leonards, Wadanggari Park will be a resilient and responsive landscape that reflects and enhances the local character and identity of St Leonards, while meeting the demands of urban growth. Wadanggari Park will provide through site connections and access to the renovated subterranean link below the Pacific Highway, connecting the residents of the 2,000 future dwellings of the St Leonards residential zone south of the Pacific Highway, with St Leonards train station, Royal North Shore Hospital and commercial and residential zones to the north. Adjoining the 88 Christie commercial and residential development, with the St Leonards Library, the park will provide easy access to new and existing precincts to the east, including Friedlander Place and Crows Nest and the soon to open Metro station.
Project Completion
The design narrative is based on the Wadanggari (Banksia), a quintessential Australian flower known to have been here for 60 million years, which is an important part of the Lane Cove area ecological communities and high significance in First Nations culture. With three towers that reflect the stages of growth of the Wadanggari (Banksia) flower, the play space at Wadanggari Park will be a major attraction for the space, designed for use by all age groups.
The design narrative is based on the Wadanggari (Banksia), a quintessential Australian flower known to have been here for 60 million years, which is an important part of the Lane Cove area ecological communities and high significance in First Nations culture. With three towers that reflect the stages of growth of the Wadanggari (Banksia) flower, the play space at Wadanggari Park will be a major attraction for the space, designed for use by all age groups.
Playground
The multi-level play spaces include a pod climber, a net tower and an art structure. With bridges, climbing nets, viewing decks, swings and slide, all elements have been chosen to suit the palette of the banksia. Lighting highlights the design concept of the play area, highlighting the towers, underscoring the bridge and emphasising the facade texture. An array of seating is provided for parents and carers to watch children in the playground with vantage points for train enthusiasts to watch the railway line in use.
Community Recreation
Seating nooks set within curving walkways and raised fern gardens allow for a range of uses and user groups. Enclosed within the lush planting, these nooks make ideal meeting spots for commercial workers, residents, and visitors to the park, playground and retail precinct, to meet to enjoy a moment in the sun or share a meal.
The Great Lawn
With a timber stage, a large expanse of turf and sloping lawns to the rear, the Great Lawn space can be used in a range of ways by the community, from weekend picnics, lounging in the lunchtime sun and community events. A native buffer planting screens the great lawn from the train line and St Leonards South precinct.
Passive Nook
Elevated from the Pacific Highway frontage, the passive nook features a mix of seating typologies, surrounded by raised planters full of Indigenous planting and mounds of lawn. Focus trees are underlit to emphasise trunks and foliage, while a functional lighting strategy ensures safety and accessibility from the highway frontage throughout the site, including the main connection passages and stairs to adjoining streets.
Art
Arcadia developed an art and wayfinding strategy that celebrates and acknowledges the Ga-maraigal/Cammeraygal people working closely with Gaimariagal Elder Uncle Dennis Foley and Yuin artist and landscape architect, Kaylie Salvatori of Cola Studio. The narrative is based on the lifecycle of the banksia and its symbolism for growth and renewal due to its regeneration through fire and smoke. A mural on the wall fronting Canberra Avenue and a wall in entrance from the tunnel are the work of Cola studio, with the narrative woven through paving inlays and patterning, interpretive shade sculptures and the sculptural play space. Llighting, wayfinding and paving will enhance navigation and safety, as well as creating a distinct identity for Wadanggari Place.