Perth Waterfront - a conversation
AIUS Forum 12 April 2011, at The Melbourne Hotel in Perth
The Perth Foreshore project has the potential to make such a dramatic change to the city of Perth for many years to come. Little is really known about the details so the AIUS invited 5 speakers to speak on 5 points for 5 minutes. The presentations were were followed by a lively discussion from the audience.
The speakers' 5 points and comments from the audience are presented here.
The State Government's Position
Gary Pratley, Chairman of the Western Australian Planning Commission briefly summarised the objective and status of the State Government's Perth Waterfront project:
• Perth Waterfront (PW) will be the heart and soul of city,of international interest, an Iconic bold development, quality and activation of city, and contribute to a vibrant liveable globally competitive city
• PW represents a $2.6b project with $270m government investment up front 1700 apartments, 150,000sqm office, 39,000sqm retail, promenade 1.5ha, island, landing with timbered terraces to waters edge. It is designed to handle 0.9m sea level rise and flood/storm events
• First phase - site preparation to begin October after CHOGM, construction targeted for early 2012, private construction to begin 2014.
• Second phase - indigenous centre striking architectural landmark and also cable car to Kings Park.
Placemaking First?
Gilbert Rouchecouste (Managing Director of placemaking experts Village Well), spoke of the "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to get it right:
• Don't be dazzled by design, the Waterfront needs a compelling narrative to start with that is globally iconic and locally distinctive
• The planning process requires deep and authentic engagement. Don't rely on placemaking later on like Docklands and Darling Harbour - find the X factor from the start
• The Waterfront should be place-driven not purely design driven or commercially driven
• Get the right mix of uses to create a locally powerful destination. This requires active place management (like Federation Square) - highly place curated to focus on micro experiences and make beauty an economic driver
• The Waterfront needs spirit of place - heart and soul that all people can associate with, not just a physical space.
Questions of sustainability
Gary Baverstock, Architect and sustainability expert, put the project into a global and environmental context:
• Perth is not an isolated City - it is part of a vulnerable system, particularly uncertainties with climate change and sea level rise. There could be an ultimate increase of 1-4m in sea level by 2100 if we don't control carbon into atmosphere
• Reduced global supply of food, water and energy in future could result in global population reduction by 2100 to 1 billion. In this context should we continue business as usual?
• Need to balance investment in new projects like the Waterfront with investment in true sustainability - renewable industries, technologies, temporal construction techniques etc
• The Perth Waterfront project should plan for solar access for both passive solar design and solar energy generation
An alternative view
At a recent AIUS Forum, Architect Ken Adam representing City Vision, posed a number of questions relating to the State Government's Perth Waterfront project:
• Perth Waterfront should Respect the need to properly manage east-west traffic flows - Riverside Drive must be retained as a major east-west thoroughfare, otherwise we would need to build a third route (expensive such as tunnel)
• Respect social value of Riverside Drive - iconic tourist experience along the river and is part of our heritage - needs to be retained as a continuous and smooth route
• The Waterfront is for fun and learning - should have limited commercial/ office/ residential and focus on civic uses. High rise and high density will result in objections to fun and noise at ground level, offices will bring added traffic. Hillaries and Fremantle demonstrate how this works well.
• The Waterfront should be low rise to avoid overshadowing in winter and to create a human scale and respect the natural setting.
• The Waterfront should be economically intelligent - the land value is ground level near the water and activity. Should not spend public funds on creation of high rise for commercial uses.
A cultural dimension?
At a recent AIUS Forum, Marion Fulker, CEO Committee for Perth , stressed the importance of a "cultural anchor":
• There is a need to maintain an ambitious vision for the Waterfront which includes the indigenous centre - without it - it will be like Sydney's Circular Quay without the Opera House
• Indigenous people and their art and culture should be a highly visible part of the city
• The indigenous centre is the key for creating a unique Waterfront on Perth's doorstep by embracing the oldest living culture on earth.
• The Waterfront, with the indigenous centre, can become iconic by using the Power of 10 (any great place needs 10 things to do or 10 reasons to be there). The Opera House achieves this as a critical part of Circular Quay.
• The time is now - Perth is currently undergoing major change and the Waterfront is a crucial part of the puzzle. Other cities are developing their plans to showcase indigenous culture and funding from the Federal Government will be highly competitive.
General comments from the audience:
• How best to engage with the public (Gilbert - to be inclusive and proactively seek the voices of minority groups)
• What is the cost of doing it wrong (Gilbert - enormous, potential for failure if no placemaking. He doesn't want to have to fix this up in the future!)
• Don't leave placemaking to the next detailed phase - place-make first and establish the fine-grain attributes, then design the masterplan to reflect this (Gilbert)
• Buildings are western cultures cultural statement, the land and water are the indigenous.
• Need to understand indigenous way of seeing the world, and other cultural perceptions and reflect this in the planting, art, teaching and learning opportunities
• Could have an indigenous mural on the streets and laneways so its visible from the buildings - intertwining of different cultures
• Needs to acknowledge all WA indigenous groups while respecting being on Noongar land
• Cultural centre should also acknowledge European heritage that helped create Perth
• Need to bring the community on the journey
• Has there been a public conversation about the Waterfront? (Gary P - there has been discussion for 20 years, so the government has now decided on the fundamentals and there will be further consultation on detailed planning moving forward)
• Gary P reiterated Riverside Drive will not remain as a traffic sewer, it is purposely being slowed to enhance its social value
• Human scale, designed for people
• The vision, character and how it will be ‘activated' has not been clearly articulated in the master plan - ie. the finer grain place-making attributes are not clear
• Concern at leaving culture until last and addressing commerce first - first impressions count and it may become a soulless place
• Concern of overshadowing
• Need for design guidelines for world class buildings
• Darling Harbour is not a good precedent - it is more of a commercial precinct and doesn't have the authentic feel of a city that is owned by the people with work, live and play
• Need to retain public control of timing and quality
• Concern at loss of quiet green space in the city
• What is the magic? What is unique about the plan except for the indigenous centre?
• Needs a sustainable transport emphasis
• Should relocate freeway on/offramps away from this people place (Emmerson)
• Waterfront should be our place to celebrate WA and tell our state's stories