Firm： CHROFI

Type： Commercial › Retail Supermarket Cultural › Cultural Center Landscape + Planning › Masterplan Public Park Urban Green Space Residential › Multi Unit Housing Transport + Infrastructure › Train/Subway

STATUS： Concept

SIZE： 100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft

BUDGET： $100M +

"The transformation of suburban centres in our major cities is an emerging and critical challenge. This elegant masterplan for Sydney’s Turramurra provides a sensitive and engaging model for the provision of community facilities centred on an existing railway station with a network of connected public spaces. It affords high levels of amenity with increased density, as well as greater connectivity with adjoining neighbourhoods.

The masterplan proposes a compact village centre retaining public ownership to the public spaces, and this strategy has formed a key platform for community consultation, which has resulted in a positive response across a diversity of demographic groups. Sensitive integration of built form and landscape promises to deliver a distinctive and appropriate model for the densification of our suburbs with, in this case, the topography cleverly used to integrate larger built form while retaining the strong landscape character with its dense tree canopy."

- Jury Citation, PIA, Australian Award for Urban Design

The 12,300sqm Ray Street Precinct makes up roughly one fourth of the combined Turramurra Local Centre. The surrounding train station, bus interchange, parking, library and supermarket have already resulted in an active village centre despite lack of quality public domain. The brief consists of a new library and community centre building, European scale public piazza, full-line supermarket, parklands, commuter parking and connections to existing rail network. The purpose of the feasibility study has been to determine how to self-fund the development by the provision of mixed use housing and retail tenancies. The strategy was to utilise the natural valley running across the site in order to partially bury the supermarket and parking. Above this, the public spaces are designed to be differing in character including narrow laneways, streets, a european scale Piazza, heritage botanical gardens, linear park. These spaces collectively build a ‘place’ that will attract a lively community.

The project was undertaken in association with Ku-ring-gai Council.

The project team consists of McGregor Coxall, HillPDA, Rider Levett Bucknall, The Chamber, People Trans, Location IQ, AEC Group