Block c – hill road, wentworth point
Block c – hill road, wentworth point
The next stage of City Freehold’s masterplan development on Hill Road Wentworth Point has received approval. Arcadia has designed the communal open space, the public domain and streetscape for Block C, which will deliver 300 Bates Smart-designed apartments to the four-stage development, which includes build to rent project Block D currently under construction. At the ground plane, interpretive and artistic elements provide a connection to the Wan-gal Country, and will assist in activating the site through the creation of a “social hub” at the building entry, with a laneway that will provide important connections through the suburb.
Throughout the masterplan the landscape will create a rich and diverse constructed system with high ecological integrity for the development, reinstating the notion of the tidal mud flats. In the same way that the mud flats are a generator of activity, providing habitat for bird and aquatic life, Block C’s landscape will use a balance of ‘Blue’ (water) and ‘Green’ (habitat) systems in the functional aspects of Block C’s landscape. Aesthetically the shapes, planting and materiality throughout will illustrate the ephemeral nature of the coastal environment – evolving with the tides, ‘islands’ and pools emerge – continuously changing and morphing in response to natural forces.
At the street level, landscape offers continuous green edges, activated building interfaces and through site experience, taking pedestrians on a sensory journey that tells the story of season, and enhances the connection to place.
The laneway space has been designed to enhance pedestrian connection through Wentworth Point, influenced by the nearby mudflats with the saltmarsh “islands” of low velocity and high refuge for flora and fauna, and the meandering channels which typically deviate from straight lines. The laneway combines these natural system features, replicated in a way of creating islands of refuge for people, with raised planter beds with integrated seating positioned throughout. With varying paving and wall materiality, pedestrians will flow through the space under the bridge, with channels creating open site lines, and destinational points of interest and gully planting along the journey, to form a sense of community and connection to the ecology overlays.
A communal green podium has been designed across level three, connected by a pedestrian bridge and influenced by the natural systems of the mudbars, lagoons and swamps. Reflecting the mix in typology of apartments in Block C, which include town houses, 1,2 and 3 bedroom apartments, the podium has been designed to facilitate play, celebration, activation and multi-generational gathering in the Community Heart with outdoor dining and seating for groups of all sizes. Zones for working, socialising and passive health and wellbeing, with garden rooms, outdoor WFH pods, open turf, yoga lawn and walking paths.
The level 17 rooftop will be a zone that weaves in entertainment for all, bringing family together in a range of amenity and social hubs. With swimming pool and spa, outdoor dining and garden lounge space, residents will have a range of options for connection and relaxation with sculptural feature planting to provide shade and screening.
