AACS Commendation

Submission: Matt Drysdale

Website: www.mattdrysdale.com

JURY COMMENTARY

This proposal brings a street of substantially scaled buildings towards the most easterly point of the peninsular to reach out towards Surfers Paradise,  thus reducing the currently perceived sense of isolation of the cultural precinct from the coastal strip.  The location of the major anchor building at the tip of the peninsular provides a magnet and legible destination for bridge links from Surfers Paradise and Chevron Island.

The predominately “edge” location of buildings gives over the substantial areas of the site to landscape space providing a park-like interface with Bundall Road and also views into the site and to a public gathering space.

A canal and tidal pond become both the destination and an important focal point within the “Civic Village” and create a distinctly Gold Coast and egalitarian public space reflective of the lifestyle connections to water, boating and the development history around canal making.

Excavated material from the tidal pond and canal is used to cover some basement car parking which occurs under landscape and also to shape the open space areas in order to provide a range of differently scaled spaces for public enjoyment and development of exemplary landscape and environmental husbandry.

The arrangement of buildings, which are large to suit their civic and cultural roles, flank the waters edge and are set away from Crombie Avenue.  This enables the “Civic Village” to have an impressive waterside presence when experienced from more distant vantage points and at the same time engage positively with existing low rise residential areas to the south.

The alignment of the pedestrian spine provides a legible link from Surfers Paradise through the site towards future destinations and redeveloped areas to the west.  This pedestrian spine which offers differently proportioned outside public spaces for a range of performances, events and activities could also figure as a route for future, people friendly, public transport linking Surfers Paradise towards Nerang.

This Civic Village proposition is underpinned by sensible strategies regarding landscape, pedestrian and vehicle movements, views, vistas and connections.

The idea achieves not only the configuration for substantial civic buildings but also a diversity and quantum of genuinely accessible public space and landscape to this precious Gold Coast site.